Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module, students should:
1. Understand the importance of Official Statistics as a basis for evidence-based decision-making
2. Describe the legal and administrative framework for the CSO's production of official statistics.
3. Understand the EU and Irish Statistical Code of Practice and the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System and how they apply to each stage of the GSBPM
4. Apply the various elements of the CSO’s Quality Management Framework including the requirements and importance of standards for survey documentation, metadata, process and output metrics and data management requirements.
5. Identify key international institutions like Eurostat, IMF, UN, OECD, the World Bank etc. and how they use and produce data.
6. Understand the principles of questionnaire design and the factors to consider when selecting an interviewing technique
7. Describe how index number theory is used in official statistics in the production of some common indices.
8. Compare common algebraic methods of index number calculation.
9. Recognize the essentials of population change and how national and local population estimates are made.
10. Illustrate the differences between Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Product (GNP) and the three ways in which they can be measured.
11. Describe the benefits and challenges of using administrative data in statistical systems.
12. Apply statistical disclosure control
13. Understand how data summaries and graphics should be presented for different audiences and for different communication channels

1. Intro to Official Statistics
2. Legal and administrative framework for the CSO's production of official statistics.
3. EU and Irish Statistical Code of Practice and the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System and how they apply to each stage of the GSBPM
4. CSO’s Quality Management Framework including the requirements and importance of standards for survey documentation, metadata, process and output metrics and data management requirements.
5. International institutions like Eurostat, IMF, UN, OECD, the World Bank etc. and how they use and produce data.
6. Questionnaire design
7.
8. Index numbers
9. Demography
10. National Accounts
11. administrative data in statistical systems.
12. statistical disclosure control
13. data summaries and graphics for different audiences and for different communication channels

Students should have completed a basic course in statistics and be familiar with the foundations of probability and statistical inference. Student should have prior experience with statistical analyses that include graphical summaries, summary statistics, standard statistical distributions, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, ANOVA, comparison of proportions and regression.

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

feedback will be provided by CSO staff on completion of the assessment of each topic.