Official statistics, public policy and public trust

Summary.  The question of public confidence in official statistics has been central to government statistical policy for the last 10 years. This year the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 was passed. The paper suggests key characteristics of the new arrangements that will be needed if public confidence in the official statistics outputs is to be strengthened. It is argued that this will depend on public confidence in the statistical system as a whole rather than just the new Board. The organizational structure of the UK statistical system is described and this is linked to the issue of public confidence. Finally the wider questions of evidence-based policy and the use of statistics and statistical thinking throughout government are discussed.     

Head Scholar

Sir Michael Scholar, new Chair of the new Statistics Board, is spending the winter preparing the ground before being thrust into the full glare of parliamentary and media scrutiny as he sets about the task of turning around the reputation of official statistics. Simon Briscoe talked to him.     

统计公信力与为社会公众服务意识

本文从近期政府统计公信力不断遭受公众和媒体质疑入手,对影响政府统计公信力的因素从统计工作自身、政府部门、公众和媒体等不同角度进行深入分析,进而提出提升政府统计公信力的应对措施。     

官方统计之我见

 随着国家教委本科专业目录的出台，中国社会经济统计学界反响很大。振动之余，平下心来。还是有许多东西值得认真反思的。这里之所以用了反思，意在从主观入手，剖析自我。     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Markov Chain Monte Carlo in Practice. Eds W.R. Gilks, S. Richardson & D.J. Spiegelhalter. London
Workshop Statistics - Discovery with Data. By Allan J. Rossman. New York: Springer-Verlag
Activity-based Statistics, Instructor Resources. By Richard L. Scheaffer, Mrudulla Gnanadesikan, Ann Watkins, Jeffrey A. Witmer. New York
Activity-based Statistics, Student Guide. Richard L. Scheaffer, Mrudulla Gnanadesikan, Ann Watkins, Jeffrey A. Witmer. New York
Biplots. By J.C. Gower and D.J. Hand. London: Chapman and Hall
The Economic Laws of Scientific Research. By Terence Kealey. London     

Reviews and Notices

Abstract

Mortality Experience: Mortality Experience of the Australian Mutual Provident Society. 1849–88. Compiled by Richard Teece, F.I.A., Actuary and Manager. Reviewed by Miles Menander Dawson.

Bulletins of the Canadian Census: No. 1. August, 1881. Preliminary Returns of Population.

Bulletins of the Canadian Census: No. 2. October, 1891. Population of the Sub-Districts of the Province of Ontario.

Reports of Labor Statistics: Third Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of Minnesota, 1891–92. L. G. Powers, Commissioner. Minneapolis, 1893. Pp. 446.

Reports of Labor Statistics: Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor of Michigan, Feb. 1, 1893. Henry A. Robinson, Commissioner. Lansing, 1893. Pp. 1353.

Reports of Labor Statistics: Fifth Biennial Report of the Commissioner of Labor, Census, and Industrial Statistics. Wisconsin, 1891–92. Madison, 1892. Pp. 175.

Reports of Labor Statistics: Fifth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Industrial Statistics of Rhode Island. Providence, 1892. Pp. 191.

Reports of Labor Statistics: Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of Connecticut for the Year Ending Nov. 30, 1891. Hartford. 2 vols. Pp. 1510.

Reports of Charities and Corrections: Fifth Biennial Report of the State Board of Corrections and Charities of Minnesota for the Year Ending July 31, 1892. Minneapolis, 1893. Pp. 256.

Reports of Charities and Corrections: Twelfth Biennial Report of the Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities of Illinois. Springfield, 1893. Pp. 326.

Reports of Charities and Corrections: Eleventh Biennial Report of the Michigan State Board of Corrections and Charities, 1891–92. Lansing, 1893. Pp. 169.

The Civil Service of Buenos Ayres: Estudio Estadístico del Presupuesto Nacional seguido de un Proyecto de Reforma del Mismo, etc. By Francisco Latzina. 1893. Pp. 75. Tables. Reviewed by L. P. Lane.

Assisted Emigration: Del Patronato degli Emigranti in Italia e all' Estero. By Dr. Egisto Rossi. Relazione al Primo Congresso Geographico Italiano, Genoa, 1892. Rome, 1893. Pp. 93.

Physical and Mental Condition of Children: Results of an Inquiry as to the Physical and Mental Condition of Fifty Thousand Children seen in One Hundred and Six Schools. By Francis Warner, M.D. London. In Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, March, 1893.

Miscellaneous: Address upon the Condition of Articulative Teaching in American Schools for the Deaf. By Alexander Graham Bell. Boston, 1893. Pp. 72.

Miscellaneous: Proceedings of the Twenty-third Annual Meeting of the National Board of Trades held in Washington, January, 1893. Boston, 1893. Pp. 254.     

Indicators for democratic debate

One possible way for official statistics to become more useful and visible in public debate is to time the publication programme to match major events in society, such as local and general elections. Svein Longva , head of Statistics Norway, describes how, in the run-up to the last three Norwegian elections, Statistics Norway has published statistics and background analyses considered relevant to issues addressed in the election campaign. The response has been overwhelmingly positive and there have been no complaints that Statistics Norway interferes in the political debate or presents biased information.     

Reviews and Notices

Abstract

Statistics of Infectious Diseases: Statistik der Infectiosen Erkrankungen in den Jahren 1881-91, und Untersuchung der Einflusses der Witterung. By Josef Körösi, Director des Communal-statistischen Bureaus, Budapest. Berlin, 1894. Puttkammer und Mühlbrecht.

Mortality in Australia: Tropical Mortality. By Richard Teece, F.I.A., F.F.A., Actuary of the Australian Mutual Provident Society. Reviewed by Miles Menander Dawson.

Labor Statistics: Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics of Maryland. 1895. A. B. Howard, Jr., Chief. Pp. 196.

Labor Statistics: Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Industry and Labor Statistics for Maine. August, 1895. Pp. 219.

Labor Statistics: Annual Report of the Secretary of Internal Affairs of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Part III. Industrial Statistics, Vol. XXI. 1893. Harrisburg, 1894.

Labor Statistics: Sixth Biennial Report of the Commissioner of Labor, Wisconsin, 1893-94. J. Dobbs, Commissioner. Madison, 1894. Pp. 119, 221.

Labor Statistics: Seventh Annual Report of the Commissioner of Industrial Statistics of Rhode Island. 1884. Providence. Pp. xii, 337.

Labor Statistics: Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics of Maryland. A. B. Howard, Jr., Chief. 1894. Annapolis. Pp.387.

Labor Statistics: Statistics of Coal in Illinois. Twelfth Annual Report. A Supplementary Report of the State Bureau of Labor Statistics, containing the 10th Annual Report of the State Inspectors of Mines. George A. Schilling. Springfield, 1894. Pp. lxxix, 162.

Labor Statistics: Sixteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor and Industry of New Jersey for the Year Ending October 31, 1893. Trenton, 1894. Pp. iv, 490.

Labor Statistics: Seventh Annual Report of the Board of Mediation and Arbitration of the State of New York. January 22, 1894. Albany. Pp. 334.

Labor Statistics: Jahrsbericht Deutsche Erwerbs-und Wirthschaftsgenossenschaften. By D. F. Schenck. Leipzig.

Labor Statistics: Sixteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Inspection of Missouri for the Year Ending November 5, 1894. Jefferson City. Pp. 531.

Labor Statistics: Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Connecticut, for the Year Ending November 30, 1894. Hartford. Pp, 398.

Charities and Corrections: The Sixty-Fifth Annual Report of the Inspectors of the Penitentiary for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, 1894. Pp. 178.

Charities and Corrections: Fifth Report of the Board of State Charities of Indiana for the Year Ending October 31, 1894. Indianapolis. 1894. Pp. 104. Part 2. Proceedings of the Third Annual State Conference of Charities. Pp. 62.

Charities and Corrections: Semi-Centennial of the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. October, 1894. Pp. 275.

Charities and Corrections: The 19th Annual Session of the Directors of the Poor of Pennsylvania, held at Williamsport, October 17-19, 1893. Pittsburg, 1894. Pp.201.

Charities and Corrections: Twelfth Biennial Report of the Michigan State Board of Corrections and Charities, 1893-94. Lansing, 1895. Pp, 263.

Charities and Corrections: Twenty-Sixth Annual Report of the Board of State Charities and Corrections of Rhode Island. 1895. Pp. 164.

Statistical Year-Books and Almanacs: The Statesman's Year-Book, 1895. Edited by J. Scott Keltie. Thirty-second Annual Publication. London, 1895. Pp, xxxi, 1156.

Statistical Year-Books and Almanacs: The Statistical Year-Book of Canada for 1893. Department of Agriculture. Ottawa, 1894.

Statistical Year-Books and Almanacs: The Financial Reform Almanac, 1895. Thirty-first issue. London. Pp.296.

Statistical Year-Books and Almanacs: Album de Statistique Graphique de 1893. Ministry of Public Works. Paris, 1894. Pp. xviii. Plates, 21.

Statistical Year-Books and Almanacs: Statistisches Jahrbuch der Schweiz. Fourth year. 1894. Statistical Bureau of the Department of the Interior. Berne, 1894. Pp. xviii, 444.

Statistical Year-Books and Almanacs: Mineral Resources of the United States. 1893. David T. Day. Chief of Division of Mining Statistics. United States Geological Survey. Washington, 1894. Pp.810.

Statistical Year-Books and Almanacs: The Tradesman's Annual. Chattanooga, Tenn. Pp.218. January 1, 1895.

Statistical Year-Books and Almanacs: The Wool Book and Statistical Manual, Containing Latest Financial Information of the Production, Movement, and Consumption of Wool in all Countries, Textile Schedules of the Tariff of 1894, Manufacturing Tables, etc. By S. N. D. North, Secretary of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers. Boston, 1895. Pp 142.

Statistical Year-Books and Almanacs: The World Almanac and Encyclopedia, 1895. Pp. 481.     

Reviews and Notices

Abstract

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: Indiana. Ninth Annual Report of the State Board of Health for the fiscal year ending October 31, 1891; and Annual Report of the Bureau of Vital and Sanitary Statistics. Indianapolis, 1891. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: Kansas. Fifth Annual Report of the State Board of Health, ending December 31, 1889. Topeka, 1890. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: Massachusetts. Twenty-Second Annual Report of the State Board of Health. Boston, 1891. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: Michigan. Seventeenth Annual Report of the Secretary of the State Board of Health for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889. Lansing, 1890. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: New Hampshire. Tenth Annual Report relating to the Registration and Returns of Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths, for the year 1889. Manchester, 1891. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: New Jersey. Thirteenth Annual Report of the Board of Health, and Report of the Bureau of Vital Statistics. Camden, 1889. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: New York. Eleventh Annual Report of the State Board of Health. Volumes I, II. Albany, 1891. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: North Carolina. Third Biennial Report of the Board of Health for the years 1889 and 1890. Raleigh, 1891. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: Ontario. Report relating to the Registration of Births, Marriages, and Deaths for the year ending December 31, 1889. Toronto, 1890. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: Ontario. Ninth Annual Report of the Provincial Board of Health for the year 1890. Toronto. 1891. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: Wisconsin. Thirteenth Report of the State Board of Health, 1889–90. Madison, 1891. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: New York City. Annual Report of the Board of Health of the Health Department for the year ending December 31, 1890. New York, 1891. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Statistics of Pauperism in Hartford: Report of the Special Committee on Out-door Alms of the Town of Hartford, 1891. Hartford. The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company. 1891. Pp. lxxi, 93. Reviewed by A. G. Warner.

Comparison of Movement of Population in Prussia and France: The following is based upon material published in the Zeitschrift des Königes Preussischen Statistischen Bureaus. 1891. Nos. 1–2. Reviewed by F. C. Norton.

Suicides in Prussia and Italy: The following paragraphs are taken from the Zeitschrift des Kön. Preus. Stat. Bureaus, 1891, Nos. 1–2. Reviewed by F. C. Holmes.

Anthropometric Statistics: Thirtieth Annual Report of the Professor of Hygiene and Physical Education of Amherst College. 1891. Pp. 20. Map. Reviewed by R. Waterman, Jr.

The Census of Berlin: Einstweilige Ergebrisse der Volkszählung vom 1. December, 1890, in der Stadt Berlin. Veröffentlicht vom Statistischen Amt der Stadt. 1891. Pp. 64.

Statistics of Vaccination: Neue Beiträge zur Frage des Impfschutzes. Zweite Beobachtungsserie, 1887–88. Von Josef Körösi, Director des Budapester Communal-statistischen Bureaus. Berlin, 1891.

Statistical Articles in Magazines and Journals: Journal de la Société de Statistique de Paris. April, 1891. ÉAtude sur les placements faits a l'étranger par les differents peuples. By M. Georges Martin. Reviewed by William Z. Ripley.

Journal des Economistes. Sept., 1891. The Progress of Paper Money. By E. Fournier de Flaix. Reviewed by William Z. Ripley.

Revue d'Économie Politique. May, June, 1891.Une statistique des mariages. By Prof. Harald Westergaard. Reviewed by William Z. Ripley.

Revue d'Hygiène. November 20, 1891. De la Morbidité et la Mortalité par Professions. By Dr. Jacques Bertillon. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

The Archiv für Eisenbahnwesen. August, 1891. Prozentbarechnung über den Personenverkehr. Reviewed by Victor Rosewater.

Conrad's Jahrbuch. July, 1891. Die Ergebnisse der Konkursstatistik. By Dr. A. Wirminghaus.

Frauenarbeit. By Prof. Stieda.

Archiv für soziale Gesetzgebnng und Statistik. IV, No. 2, 1891. Neuere Untersuchungen uber die Lage der arbeitenden Klassen in Holland. By Dr. Otto Pringsheim.

Zeitschrift des K. Sachsischen Statistischen Bureaus. 1890. Nos. 3–4. Dresden, August, 1891.

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. London. June, 1891.

Journal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland. Sept., 1891. The Congested Districts. By Richard J. Kelly.

The Economic Review. October, 1891. London.

Transactions of the Manchester Statistical Society. 1890–91.

The Fortnightly Review. December. The Canadian Census. By J. G. Colmer.

The Charity Organization Review. London. December, 1891. Character and development of the German Labor Colonies, from the opening of the first colony in 1882 to 1889. By Dr. Berthold.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Handbook of Chemistry and Physics.
Hoel, P. G. Introduction to Mathematical Statistics.
Savage, I. Richard. Bibliography of Nonparametric Statistics.
Wilks, S. S. Mathematica1 Statistics.
Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques. Recensemement général de la population de la Nouvelle Calédonie 1956—Tableaux Statistiques.
Wegner, P. An Introduction to Symbolic Programming.
Annual Review in Automatic Programming.     

Book Reviews

Statistics: Learning in the Presence of Variation Robert L. Wardrop. Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1995. xxiv + 662 pp. $63.80. Reviewed by Allan J. Rossman

Modeling Experimental and Observational Data Clifford E. Lunneborg. Belmont, CA: Duxbury Press, 1994. xv + 506 pp. $40.95. Reviewed by Mark S. Handcock

Probability and Statistics for Engineers Richard Scheaffer and James T. McClave. Belmont, CA: Duxbury Press, 1995. xiv + 745 pp. $66.00. Reviewed by Gary D. Herrin     

Reviews and Notices

Abstract

Electric Lighting Plants: Eleventh Annual Report of the Board of Gas and Electric Light Commissioners of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 1896. Pp.170, clx.

Inquiries Concerning Poverty: Das Armenwesen in Steiermark. By Dr. Ernst Mischler, Director des statistischen Landesamtes von Steiermark. Graz, 1896. Pp. 258. Reviewed by M. K. Conyngton.

Inquiries Concerning Poverty: Beitrage zur Statistilk des Herzogthums Braunschweig. Herausgegeben vom statistischen Bureau des herzogI. Staatsministeriums. Heft XII. 1895. Reviewed by M. K. Conyngton.

Railway Statistics: Forty-Third Annual Report of the Railroad Commissioners of Connecticut for the Year Ending September 30, 1895. Hartford. Pp.500, 116.

Railway Statistics: Eighteenth Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners of Iowa for the Year Ending June 30, 1895. Des Moines, 1895. Pp, xl, 316.

Railway Statistics: Thirty-Seventh Annual Report of the Railway Commissioners of Maine for the Year Ending June 30, 1895. Augusta, 1895. Pp.59, 155, 391.

Railway Statistics: Twenty-Third Annual Report ofthe Commissioner of Railroads of Michigan for 1895. Lansing. Pp. lxi, 454.

Railway Statistics: Fifth Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners of North Carolina for 1895. Pp. xiii, 712.

Labor Statistics: Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics of Maryland, 1896. A. B. Howard, Jr., Chief. Baltimore. Pp. 170.

Labor Statistics: Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics of Michigan. Lansing, 1896. Pp. xxvi, 402.

Labor Statistics: Third Annual Report of the Inspector of Factories in Michigan. Lansing, 1896. Pp. 260.

Circulation of Money: La vitesse de La circulation de la monnaie. By Pierre des Essars. Journal Société de Statistique de Paris, April, 1895; p. 143. Reviewed by Anita Corbert.

Vital and Health Statistics: Fifty-Seventh Annual Report of the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in England, 1894.

Vital and Health Statistics: Twenty-First Annual Report of the Secretary of the State Board of Health of Michigan for the Year Ending June 30, 1893. Lansing, 1895. Pp. cxxiv, 444.

Vital and Health Statistics: Fifteenth Annual Report of the State Board of Health of New York. Albany, 1895. Pp.775. Vol. II, maps and diagrams.

Anthropometric Statistics of Italy: Anthropometria Militare. By the Ministry of War, under the direction of Dr. Ridolfo Livi. Part I: Anthropological and Ethnological Data. Rome, 1896. Pp. 419. Maps and diagrams, xxiii, Reviewed by William Z. Ripley.

Notes on Demography: Census of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1895. Horace G. Wadlin. Part I; Vol. 1. Population and Social Statistics. Pp.67. Boston, 1896.

Notes on Demography: Bulletin No. 12, Uensue of Michigan. June 1, 1894. School Attendance. Pp. 13.

Notes on Demography: Copy of Statistical Tables Relating to Emigration and Immigration from and into England in the Year 1894. Board of Trade. London, April 9, 1895. Pp. 55.

Trade, Industry, and Finance: Report of the Commissioner of Navigation to the Secretarg of the Treasury. 1895. Washington. Pp. 360.

Trade, Industry, and Finance: The New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor has issued, as Pamphlet No.1, An Inquiry into the Causes of Agricultural Depression in New York State. Pp. 24.

Trade, Industry, and Finance: Statistics of the Dairy, Compiled from the United States Census for 1890, and from Other Reliable Sources, with Explanatory Notes. By Henry E. Alvord, Chief of the Dairy Division, United States Department of Agriculture. Bureau of Animal Industry. Bulletin No. 11. Washington, 1896. Pp.53.

Trade, Industry, and Finance: Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth Annual Meeting of the National Board of Trade held in Washington January, 1896. Philadelphia. Pp.277.

Trade, Industry, and Finance: Report of the Minister of Finance to H. M., Emperor, on the Budget of the Empire for 1896. St. Petersburg, 1895. Pp. 48.

Trade, Industry, and Finance: Twenty-Eighth Report of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Island Revenue, for the Year Ended 31st March, 1895. London, 1895. Pp. 62, lx.     

Automated selection of post‐strata using a model‐assisted regression tree estimator

Despite having desirable properties, model‐assisted estimators are rarely used in anything but their simplest form to produce official statistics. This is due to the fact that the more complicated models are often ill suited to the available auxiliary data. Under a model‐assisted framework, we propose a regression tree estimator for a finite‐population total. Regression tree models are adept at handling the type of auxiliary data usually available in the sampling frame and provide a model that is easy to explain and justify. The estimator can be viewed as a post‐stratification estimator where the post‐strata are automatically selected by the recursive partitioning algorithm of the regression tree. We establish consistency of the regression tree estimator and a variance estimator, along with asymptotic normality of the regression tree estimator. We compare the performance of our estimator to other survey estimators using the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics Survey data.     

Reviews and Notices

Abstract

Hull House Maps and Papers: A Presentation of Nationalities and Wages in a Congested District of Chicago, together with Comments and Essays on Problems Growing out of the Social Conditions. By Residents of Hull House, a Social Settlement at 335 South Halsted Street, Chicago, Ill. T. Y. Crowell & Co., New York and Boston. 1895. Reviewed by Emily Greene Balch.

Labor Statistics: Fifth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Statistics of Indiana, for 1893–94. William A. Peelle, Jr., Commissioner.

Labor Statistics: Second Annual Report of the Factory Inspectors of Illinois for the Year Ending December 15, 1894. Springfield, 1895. Pp. 197. Florence Kelley, Inspector.

Labor Statistics: Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Ohio, for 1893. W. T. Lewis, Commissioner. Pp. 882.

Labor Statistics: Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics of Michigan for the Year Ending February 1, 1895. Charles H. Morse, Commissioner. Pp. 538.

Labor Statistics: Second Annual Report of Inspection of Factories of Michigan, Made by the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics. Lansing, 1895. Pp. 162.

Labor Statistics: Sixteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor and Industry of New Jersey, for the Year 1893. Charles H. Simmernam, Commissioner. Pp. 490.

Labor Statistics: Fourth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics of Nebraska, 1893–94. J. B. Erion, Deputy Commissioner. Lincoln, 1894. Pp. 530.

Labor Statistics: Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Agriculture, Labor, and Industry of Montana, for the Year Ending November 30, 1894. James H. Mills, Commissioner. Helena, 1895. Pp. 191.

Labor Statistics: Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of North Carolina, for 1894. B. R. Lacey, Commissioner.

Labor Statistics: Fourth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of Colorado, 1893–94. Pp. 471.

Labor Statistics: First Special Report of the Factory Inspectors of Illinois on Small Pox in the Tenement-House Sweat-Shops of Chicago. July 1, 1894. Pp. 57.

Labor Statistics: Third Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor and Inspector of Mines of Tennessee. January 2, 1894. Pp. 168.

Labor Statistics: Statistical Abstract for the Principal and Other Countries in Each Year from 1882 to 1891–92. Twentieth Number. London, 1894. Pp. 327.

Production and Commerce: A century of American Wool Manufacture, 1790–1890. By S. N. D. North, Secretary of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers. Pp.8l.

Production and Commerce: Report on Agriculture by Irrigation in the Western Part of the United States at the 11th Census: 1890. F. H. Newell. Washington, 1894. Pp. 283.

Production and Commerce: Rapport du Ministre des Finances A. S. M. l'Empereur sur le Budget de l'Empire. Pour l'Exercise, 1895. St. Petersburg, 1894. Pp. 55. Published also in English.

Production and Commerce: california Breadstuffs. By Horace Davis. University of Chicago Press. 1894. Pp. 517–612. A reprint from the Journal of Political Economy of Chicago.

Production and Commerce: The Foreign Commerce and Navigation of the United States for the Year Ending June 30, 1894. Bureau of Statistics, Treasury Department. Washington, 1895. Pp, cxiv, 840.

Production and Commerce: Eighth Annual Report of the Interstate Commerce Commission, December 1, 1894. Washington. Pp. 271.

Production and Commerce: Report of the Seventh Annual Meeting, Hartford Board of Trade. 1895. Pp. 33.

Production and Commerce: Pixley and Abell's circular. London, England. February 22 to March 15, 1895.

Production and Commerce: Ellison & Co.'s Monthly Cotton Report. Liverpool, England. December 13, 1894, to March 18. 1895.

Production and Commerce: Department of Agriculture: United States. Farmers' Bulletin, No. 23. Foods: Nutritive Value and CoSt. By W. O. Atwater, Ph.D. 1894. Pp. 32.

Production and Commerce: Division of Statistics of Department of Agriculture. Report of the Statistician. Washington. September, 1894, to February, 1895. Nos. 119–123.

Production and Commerce: Michigan Crop Report. Monthly Issues. No. 155, September, 1894; 161, March 1, 1895.

Production and Commerce: Statistical Report of the Illinois State Board of Agriculture. Spring-field. August 1, 1894; pp. 47. December 1, 1894; pp. 90.

Production and Commerce: Twenty-Seventh Annual Report of the San Francisco Produce Exchange. July, 1894. Pp.88.

Administration and Finance: Tenth Annual Report of the Board of Gas and Electric Light Commissioners of Massachusetts. January, 1895. Pp. 157, clviii.

Administration and Finance: First Annual Report of George Ochs, Mayor of Chattanooga, Tenn. October 15, 1894.

Administration and Finance: Annual Report of the State Comptroller of Nevada for the Year 1894. Carson City, 1895. Pp. 80.

Administration and Finance: The City Government of Boston. By Nathan Matthews, Jr., Mayor, 1891–95. A Valedictory Address to the Members of the Council, January 5, 1895. Pp. 289.

Vital Statistics: Seventeenth Annual Report of the State Board of Health of Connecticut, with a Registration Report for 1893, relating to Births, Marriages, Deaths, and Divorce. New Haven, 1895. Pp. xlvii, 325, 196.

Administration and Finance: Fourteenth Annual Report of the State Board of Health of New York. Vols. 1 and 2, and maps. New York, 1894. Pp. 869, 510.

Administration and Finance: Monthly Bulletin of the State Board of Health of New York. August, 1894, to January, 1895.

Administration and Finance: St. Louis Health Department. Monthly Reports. August, 1894, to February, 1895.

Administration and Finance: State Board of Health Bulletin of Tennessee. Nos. 111–117. September, 20, 1894, to March 20, 1895.

Administration and Finance: Nashville Condensed Monthly Statements of Mortality. September, 1894, to February, 1895.

Administration and Finance: Sixteenth Annual Report of the State Board of Health of Rhode Island for the Year Ending December 31, 1893, and the Registration Report of 1892. Providence, 1894. Pp. 193, 271.

Administration and Finance: Bulletin of the State Board of Health of North Carolina. September, 1894, to February, 1895.

Demography: Supplement to the Thirty-Eighth Annual Report of the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in Scotland. Edinburgh, 1895. Pp. lxxii, 157.

Demography: Results of a Census taken for the Night of April 5, 1891. Occupations. Published by the Government Statistician. 1894. Pp. 152.

Demography: Statistics of the Negroes in the United States. By Henry Gannett, Baltimore. Published by the Trustees of the John F. Slater Fund. Occasional Papers, No.4, 1894. Pp. 28. Plates, 7.

Demography: Census Bulletin No. 48, of 1891, by Alfred Russell, in the Publications of the Michigan Political Science Association, No.3, December, 1894. Pp. 9–17.

Post-Office Report Of Great Britain. Fortieth Report of the Postmaster-General on the Post Office of Great Britain. London, 1894. Pp. 81.     

Computer Algebra Systems: DERIVE®

Seeing Through Statistics.; Jessica M. Utts. Belmont, CA: Duxbury Press, 1996. xvi + 464 pp. $40.95. Reviewed by Sheila O'Leary Weaver

Statistics and Data Analysis, 2nd ed.; Andrew F. Siegel and Charles J. Morgan. New York: John Wiley, 1996. xiv + 635 pp. $68.95. Reviewed by Jennifer Hoeting

Statistics Principles and Methods (3rd ed.).; Richard A. Johnson and Gouri K. Bhattacharyya. New York: John Wiley, 1996. xv + 720 pp. $70.95. Reviewed by Linda C. Malone

Engineering Statistics: The Industrial Experience.; Bernard Ostle, Kenneth V. Turner, Jr., Charles R. Hicks, and Gayle W. Mcelrath. Belmont, CA: Duxbury Press, 1996. xiv + 568 pp. $62.95. Reviewed by Anne M. Dougherty

Introductory Statistics.; Sheldon M. ROSS. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996. 807 pp. $63.59. Reviewed by Youn-Min Chou

Workshop Statistics.; Allan J. ROSSMAN. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1996. xx + 452 pp. $26.95. Reviewed by Jonathan D. Cryer

Exploring Probability and Statistics with Spreadsheets.; J. T. Callender and R. Jackson. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 19xx. viii + 236 pp. $36.00. Reviewed by K. L. D. Gunawardena

NCSS (6.0.21 for Windows); Available from NCSS Statistical Software, 329 North 1000 East, Kaysville, UT 84037. For five or more student copies the cost is $25 for each set of software disks and $30 for each set of manuals. Reviewed by Michael Nabel

DASL—The Data and Story Library; This collection of datasets and stories designed for use in statistics courses is available on the Internet at http://www.stat.cmu.edu/DASL/. Reviewed by Jeffrey A. Witmer

StatLib: An Archive for Statistical Software, Datasets, and Information: StatLib is a system for distributing statistical software, datasets, and information by electronic mail, FTP, gopher, and WWW Although StatLib is not primarily intended as a resource for teachers, much of its contents are of interest when teaching statistics. StatLib is free and available via the Internet. Reviewed by Charles Kooperberg     

The need for new statistical legislation for the UK

Summary. The paper is written to inform public discussion on whether or not statistical legislation for the UK is needed and, if so, on its nature and content. A brief account of the background to the current position is given. The Government's stated intention is to create an 'independent statistical service' and a discussion of the meaning of independence in the context of official stat- istics and governance arrangements is provided. Recent international experience is described and the Statistics Acts of some other countries are used to distil the key features of Statistics Acts in other countries. The arguments for and against possible legislation are described. Whether or not a Statistics Act is desirable for the UK depends strongly on the legislation being well framed. There are several key issues on which Parliament would need to develop an informed view and these are set out towards the end of the paper.     

Interesting times for official statistics

The Statistics Commission was set up in 2000 to monitor the production of official statistics in the UK. Professor David Rhind was one of the founding Commissioners, and has been Chairman since 2003. He tells Helen Joyce that he hasn't had a quiet moment since.     

Focused and Model Average Estimation for Regression Analysis of Panel Count Data

Panel count data arise in many fields and a number of estimation procedures have been developed along with two procedures for variable selection. In this paper, we discuss model selection and parameter estimation together. For the former, a focused information criterion (FIC) is presented and for the latter, a frequentist model average (FMA) estimation procedure is developed. A main advantage, also the difference from the existing model selection methods, of the FIC is that it emphasizes the accuracy of the estimation of the parameters of interest, rather than all parameters. Further efficiency gain can be achieved by the FMA estimation procedure as unlike existing methods, it takes into account the variability in the stage of model selection. Asymptotic properties of the proposed estimators are established, and a simulation study conducted suggests that the proposed methods work well for practical situations. An illustrative example is also provided. © 2014 Board of the Foundation of the Scandinavian Journal of Statistics     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Differential-Geometrical Methods in Statistics. By Shun-Ichi Amari.
Limit Theorems for Sums of Exchangeable Random Variables. By R. L. Taylor, P. Z. Daffer and R. F. Patterson.
Applied Regression Analysis and Experimental Design. By Richard J. Brook and Gregory C. Arnold.
Essays in Time Series and Allied Process. Papers in honour of E. J. Hannan. Edited by J. Gani and M. B. Priestley.     

A J‐function for Inhomogeneous Spatio‐temporal Point Processes

We propose a new summary statistic for inhomogeneous intensity‐reweighted moment stationarity spatio‐temporal point processes. The statistic is defined in terms of the n‐point correlation functions of the point process, and it generalizes the J‐function when stationarity is assumed. We show that our statistic can be represented in terms of the generating functional and that it is related to the spatio‐temporal K‐function. We further discuss its explicit form under some specific model assumptions and derive ratio‐unbiased estimators. We finally illustrate the use of our statistic in practice. © 2014 Board of the Foundation of the Scandinavian Journal of Statistics