Editorial

Now more than ever the users of official statistics look to the National Statistical Offices (NSOs) for the production of official statistics that can be trusted. To that end, NSOs are guided by the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics. The principles were adopted 25 years ago by the United Nations Statistical Commission, but they could not be any more relevant today. It is crucial for decision making at all levels to have statistics at hand that are reliable and objective, generated from data sources of the highest quality and produced according to professional standards and ethics.

The June issue was assembled with that in mind, hence the theme: New Quality Challenges. Some of the manuscripts are based on presentations given at the Q2018 – Quality in Official Statistics conference in Krakow, Poland, but other manuscripts in this issue also fit under the quality label.

One such manuscript focuses on the next decennial census in the United States. The manuscript carries the title “How Low Response Among Latino Immigrants Will Lead to Differential Undercount if the United States’ 2020 Census Includes a Question on Citizenship”. The author relies on data from a survey in a region of California where there is a dense settlement of immigrants from Mexico to provide insight about potential threats to data quality if a citizenship question is added.

The June issue also brings you the manuscripts that took the 2018 Young Statisticians Prize (YSP). Helle Visk from Statistics Estonia authored “An Index-Based Approach to Determine Partnership in Register-Based Census”. Hochang Choi from Statistics New Zealand is the author of “Adjusting for Linkage Error to Analyse Coverage of Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) and the Administrative Population (IDI-ERP)”.

Additionally, there is the winning manuscript from the 2018 Young Scholars for Better Statistics Award (YSBS). Under the tutelage of her academic advisors at the University of Belgrade (Veljko Jeremic and Milica Bulajic), Milica Maricic authored “Assessing the Quality of Life in the European Union: The European Index of Life Satisfaction (EILS)”.

Congratulations to the authors!

This is my last issue. There are many aspects associated with producing official statistics and many challenges. It has been exciting and stimulating to interact with authors from all corners of the world and learn about best practices and how problems are tackled and challenges are met. There would not be a journal without the authors sharing their work with us. I appreciate the help from the associate editors and all their reviewers who selected the manuscripts and worked with the authors. A number of guest editors stepped in to put together special issues making the journal richer with their input. Though too many to mention here by name, thank you. You are the backbone of the journal

I thank past editors of SJIAOS, Stephen Penneck and Fritz Scheuren for their mentorship. They set it all in motion, and they were tough acts to follow. Greta Cherry has been by my side from the beginning. She is the MsTracker wizard pushing the manuscripts through the review process, knowing the tracking numbers by heart and keeping it all organized. It takes a very special person to manage that task and she has been just that special person. I had help from so many others including Kim Willems, associate publisher and Saskia Meeuwsen – van Wijngaarden, marketing coordinator – the always professional, helpful and energetic IOS Press team.

I also acknowledge the past presidents of the IAOS, Mario Palma, Ola Awad, Shigeru Kawasaki and Stephen Penneck, and the members of the IAOS Executive Committee. Thank you for your trust in me and for always making me feel like a member of the IAOS family. Ada van Krimpen, director of the ISI and Margaret de Ruiter-Molly, membership officer helped me with many questions – I think I finally understand how everything works!!!

Several of you were willing to give me a personal interview. Katherine Condon and Nancy Torrieri allowed this special feature of the journal to continue – a volunteer job like no other. The interviews made me realize how much official statisticians have in common, though our backgrounds are different. Thank you so much for letting us get to know our colleagues a little bit better. While attending the 2018 OECD/IAOS conference in Paris. Katherine Condon interviewed John Pullinger, the incoming IAOS president. The interview appears in this issue.

Finally, thank you to my husband for being my sounding board, my technical support, my travel planner and so much more.

My warmest welcome to incoming editor-in-chief, Pieter Everaers – you have made the transition period smooth and pleasant. I leave with the knowledge that SJIAOS is in very competent hands.

Kirsten West

Editor-in-Chief

June 2019

Statistical Journal of the IAOS

E-mail: kwestiaos@gmail.com