Transcript What is metadata? Anne Gro Hustoft, Statistics Norway

What is metadata?
Anne Gro Hustoft, Statistics Norway
[email protected]
-The content of the course
-A short introduction to different aspects of metadata
- Group dicussion
Content
- General aspects: quality and human issues
- Users
- From vision to practice
- Demonstrations
- Integrated metadata system
- International metadata work
- Group discussions to exchange knowledge and views
Metadata:
Data about data
Appears in many contexts, and with different meaning to
different people
Metanet survey
Do you consider metadata to be: documentation and/or data about
data and/or structured information
Documentation
Data about data
Structured
information
All
organisations
100
163
102
NSI
62
106
70
Data
archive
20
25
16
Other
18
32
16
Statistical metadata has two overall objectives:
-to inform the users about the meaning of the data
- to guide statisticians in the processing of data
One possible definition (Kent et al., Stat. Netherlands)
”All the information needed for and relevant to
collecting, processing, disseminating, accessing, understanding
and using statistical data.”
Extract from participants list
Country
INT
United Kingdom
44
Hungary
36
Spain
34
Italy
39
Germany
49
Latvia
371
Abbreviations
?
SSB*
Statistical Sample Bureau
Storage
Service
Standards
Sciences
Simple Statistics Bureau
Super Statistics Business
* - Statistisksentralbyrå
The different users of metadata:
(Kent et al., Stat. Netherlands)
- data providers and interviewers
-need it to understand the data to be collected
- statisticians
-need it for the whole statistical process
- end-users
- need it to find, select, understand, evaluate and
analyse data for their own purpose
- other users
Statistical metadata can be categorised in many different
ways - and it is!
An example of a rough categorisation:
- State metadata: define concepts (variables, classifications...)
- Process metadata: methods related to statistical processes
(imputation, revision….)
Metadata is also important for:
- improved quality
- increased efficiency
- better communication
- shared knowledge
Group discussion
-What is metadata?
- Do you categorise your metadata (e.g. state, process)
and if you do, how?
-What is metadata used for?
- Ideally
- In your everyday work
- In the future