IBGE makes available today (10/16/2013), on its website, the Institute's Code of Good Practices in Statistics based on the Code of Good Practice in Statistics for Latin America and the Caribbean. It is a set of instructions (recommendations and guidelines) structured by principles and orientations on good practices in order to standardize professional procedures according to the best practices in international statistics. Such standardization plays a crucial role to establish institutional reliability and transparency. Moreover, it is a useful tool aimed at the quality of the information produced by the Institution. 

Being applied, those principles can be assessed by means of indicators that allow the monitoring and evaluation of the quality of IBGE’s statistical production by society.

To read more about the “Code of Good Practices for IBGE Statistics”, click on www.ibge.gov.br/home/disseminacao/eventos/missao/codigo_boas_praticas.shtm

The production of official statistics is an activity which requires responsibility and commitment to the reliability of the information. Reliable information is fundamental to the conception, development, monitoring and evaluation of governmental plans and programs, as well as to decision-making in the private sector and to consolidate the exercise of citizenship.

Reliability can be reinforced over time, through quality statistics which pursue standards, principles and rules concerning the organization of the institutional environment, the statistical processes involved in a statistical activity, as well as the statistical products regarding the properly produced information and its availability.

Thus, good practice codes have been developed in the scope of international statistical agencies in order to keep the quality of the statistics produced by the Institutes as high as possible. They provide a continuous application of the best methods and practices for the production, analyses and dissemination of data.

The elaboration of the Code of Good Practices for IBGE Statistics marks a milestone in the commitment to Quality and Transparency regarding statistical information in the Institution.

The “Code of Good Practices for IBGE Statistics” brings a historical overview of the elaboration of the document, including the adopted methodology, its objectives, concepts and structure. After that, Principles and the corresponding Good Practice Indicators are described. They are divided into three sections: Institutional environment and coordination; Statistical processes; and Statistical products.

The correlation with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics of the United Nations, set in 1994, comes as a separated topic. Concluding remarks and references used in the elaboration of the code are presented in the end of the publication.

The idea is to push forward the adoption of the code, expanding its future applicability to the official statistics produced by the other institutions integrating the National System of Statistics, coordinated by IBGE. To make it possible, the Institute should promote intern discussion forums and debates with the agencies involved.