Methodology Introduction

First: Scope

Second: Design

Third: Organization

Fourth: Data Collection

Fifth: Disaggregation

Sixth: Revision

Seventh: Publication

Eighth:  Evaluation

Ninth: Management

For each of its statistical products, the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) embraces a standardized methodology that is suitable for that product. In doing so, the Authority depends on the Manual of Statistical Procedures, which goes in line with the internationally approved procedures. Each of GASTAT’s statistical products goes through eight major stages, in addition to a ninth stage having to do with the total ‘management’, as illustrated in the following figure, and the subsequent explanation.

The first three stages (scope, design and organization) are cooperative ones; conducted by GASTAT jointly with the developmental bodies benefiting from its data. Likewise, the fourth stage (data collection) is a cooperative stage conducted by the Authority jointly with the statistical population (households and establishments) to get the data and information. The following three stages (disaggregation, revision and publication) are purely statistical ones, undertaken by the Authority. Then, the eighth stage (evaluation) is conducted jointly with the beneficiaries. ‘Management’ is an organizational/ managerial stage running throughout all previous stages. Those stages have been applied to the Services Statistics, as follows:

Deemed to be the kick-off stage for producing the Services Statistics Bulletin, this stage is also the first cooperative stage between GASTAT and some other partner entities. The Department of Geo-Statistical Data at GASTAT would also benefit from the results of this Bulletin. Contact has been made with such entities to improve their access to data, identify their needs and requirements, and take their views into consideration, in order to achieve the goals of the Services Statsitics, which are:

1. Providing updated data on educational services provided, (public and private education) at the level of regions and governorates in various regions of Saudi Arabi.
2. Providing updated data on health services provided, ambulance centers and red crescent at the level of regions and governorates in Saudi Arabia.
3. Providing updated data on public and administrative services at the level of regions and governorates in Saudi Arabia.

Moreover, the published statistics would contribute in fulfilling the requirements of Saudi Vision 2030

It is during this stage that a complete design for the statistical product is set forth. During this stage, the data collection method and tools are selected. The beneficiaries are engaged in all processes, and their feedback is taken into account, so that the product would live up to their expectations.

Key outputs of this stage are:

1.   Statistics sources:

The Services Statistics Bulletin relies on the data of administrative records from its official sources in the relevant government entities, which provide GASTAT with these data, so that GASTAT can calculate its indicators and issue them in this Bulletin. Administrative records might refer to paper or electronic records in which data or information are recorded. This data is related to statistical or any other fields that are related to society conditions and activities.

The following table includes a list of these government entities:

2.   Terminologies and concepts related to Services Statistics Bulletin:

Services Statistics Bulletin: A comprehensive inventory in administrative records regarding all services available in the governorates and regions of Saudi Arabia, distributed according to the administrative division of the Kingdom. Such services include educational, administrative, social, agricultural, public or private services. 

Administrative region: Part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is administered by a government agency which is directly attached to the Ministry of Interior, such as Riyadh and Makkah ... etc. Each administrative region has a capital city.

Governorate: Part of the administrative region, the first -level of the subdivisions and reports directly to the region, such as Al-Kharj Governorate of Riyadh Region.

3.   Indicators and key results:

4.   Adopted statistical classifications:

Classification is defined as being an arranged set of related categories used for data collection according to similarity. It is the basis for collecting and publishing data in all statistical fields, such as economic activity, products, expenditures, jobs or health, etc. Classifying data and information helps to put them in meaningful categories to produce useful statistics, considering that data collection requires precise and methodological arrangement in accordance with their common features so that the statistics can be reliable and comparable. The Services Statistics comply with international standards in their data collection and classification. The Services Statistics Bulletin is subject to the following classification:

Manual of  populated areas of GASTAT, through which classification is made according to the administrative dependency of each (administrative region and governorate).

5.   Coverage:

Spatial coverage: Data provided in the Services Statistics Bulletin covers all the thirteen regions of Saudi Arabia, with their administrative divisions, which include Emirates and Governorates.

Temporal coverage: Bulletin‘s data is obtained from its sources of administrative records annually during December.

It is the final preparation stage, in which the required workflow procedures are established for preparing the Bulletin, starting with the collection stage and ending with the evaluation stage and the organization and grouping of those procedures. The optimal sequence of those procedures is chosen to arrive to a methodology that achieves the goals of the Services Statistics.

GASTAT has coordinated with concerned government entities to obtain data for Services Statistics Bulletin based on the data of administrative records available with such entities. This is done through electronic tables that are downloaded and saved on the databases of GASTAT to be audited and reviewed according to the scientific statistical approach and familiar quality standards. In case notes are found regarding such data, the data source is considered as the main reference.

During this stage, raw data are disaggregated based on the classification and coding inputs completed during the data collection process, according to the classification of the manual of  populated areas of GASTAT, or any other classification or coding.

Specialists of Geo-Statistical Data Department have processed and analyzed data in this stage. This step was based on the following measures:

• Sort and arrange data in groups or different categories in a serial order.
• Summarize detailed data into main points or main data.
• Link between many parts of data and make them connected.
• Process incomplete or missing data.
• Process illogical data.
• Convert data into statistically significant data.
• Organize, display and interpret data.

Data are presented in right tables in order to summarize, understand, as well as extract their results. Moreover, to compare them with other data, and to obtain statistical significances about the selected community. However, referring to such data indicated in tables is much easier.

“Data anonymization” is one of the most important procedures. To keep data confidential, GASTAT removed the identifiers from the data set entered from the administrative records data, such as hiding individuals' names, addresses, and other identifiers to maintain individuals’ privacy.

First: Data Outputs Validation:

In addition to the revision process applied to the register-based data in the fourth stage to check their accuracy, all outputs  were  stored and uploaded to the database after being calculated by GASTAT to be reviewed and processed by specialists of the Geo-Statistical Data Department through modern technologies and software designed for this purpose.

Second: Handling confidential data:

According to the Royal Decree No. 23 dated 07-12-1397, data must always be kept confidential, and must be used by GASTAT only for statistical purposes. Therefore, the data are protected in the data servers of the Authority.

First: Preparation and Process of Results Designed for Publishing:

During this stage, GASTAT has coordinated, organized, and revised the Bulletin data. Then, publishing tables and charts of data and indicators, metadata, and methodology were all prepared and processed to be published in both languages English and Arabic.

Second: Preparing Media Kit and Announcing the Date of the Release:

The publication date of the Bulletin is already set up by GASTAT on its official website at the beginning of the Calendar Year. During this period, GASTAT is preparing the media kits to announce the date of releasing the bulletin through media, in addition to its various platforms in social networking sites. The Bulletin will be published firstly on GASTAT’s official website in different formats, such as Excel format to be easily reached for all clients and those who are interested in services statistics.It will be uploaded on the website’s statistics library as well.

Third: Communicating with clients and providing them with the Bulletin’s results

One of GASTAT’s objectives is to better meet its clients' needs, so it immediately provides them with the Bulletin’s results once it is published. It also receives questions and inquiries of the clients about the Bulletin and its results through various communication channels, such as:

• GASTAT’s official website www.stats.gov.sa
• GASTAT’s official e-mail address info@stats.gov.sa
• Client Support’s e-mail address cs@stats.gov.sa
• Official visits to GASTAT’s official head office in Riyadh or one of its branches in Saudi Arabia.
• Official letters.
• Statistical telephone (920020081)

All GASTAT’s clients who used the results of the Bulletin will be contacted again in order to assess the entire statistical process. This is done for improvement purposes in order to obtain high-quality data. The improvements include: methodologies, procedures and systems, statisticians’ skill level, as well as statistical work frameworks. The participatory stage is carried out with the data users and Authority’s clients according to the following steps:

Firstly: Collection of Measurable Assessment Inputs:

The most important comments and notes are collected and documented from their sources in different stages, such as the comments and notes written by specialists responsible for reviewing, auditing, and analyzing data collected from administrative records, comments and notes collected and documented by data users after publishing the Bulletin, social media comments,  and clients’ feedback sent to the Authority through its main channels.

Second: Evaluation:

It is done by analyzing the collected evaluation inputs, and comparing the results of this analysis with the ones predicted previously. Therefore, a number of possible improvements and solutions are identified and discussed with specialists, experts, and concerned partners. During this step, clients' performances and satisfaction levels of using the results of the Bulletin are measured. Based on that, suggested recommendations to obtain high quality data for future bulletins will be considered.

It is a comprehensive stage that is required to carry out each stage of Services Statistics Bulletin. During this stage, the plan was set , which includes the feasibility study, risk management, financing methods, in addition to expenditure mechanisms. The plan also covered the  development of performance indicators, quality criteria, and manpower map required for production. Through this plan, the implementation process of the tasks assigned to different departments at each stage will be followed up to ensure that GASTAT meets its clients’ requirements.