Microdata Collection and Openness in the Middle East and North Africa : Introducing the MENA Microdata Access Indicator
This paper uses a “mystery client” approach and visits the websites of national statistical offices and international microdata libraries to assess whether foundational microdata sets for countries in the Middle East and North Africa region are col...
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| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2022
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/949901640829231412/Microdata-Collection-and-Openness-in-the-Middle-East-and-North-Africa-MENA-Introducing-the-MENA-Microdata-Access-Indicator http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36798 |
| Summary: | This paper uses a “mystery client”
approach and visits the websites of national statistical
offices and international microdata libraries to assess
whether foundational microdata sets for countries in the
Middle East and North Africa region are collected, up to
date, and made available to researchers. The focus is on
population and economic censuses, price data and
consumption, labor, health, and establishment surveys.
Following the exercise, a new microdata access indicator
that measures the degree of opennes of microdata and the
ease with which microdata users can understand and navigate
the websites of national statistical offices is presented.
The results show that about half of the expected core data
sets are being collected and that only a fraction is made
available publicly. As a consequence, many summary
statistics, including national accounts and welfare
estimates, are outdated and of limited relevance to decision
makers. Additional investments in microdata collection and
publication of the data once collected are strongly advised.
National statistical offices in the region should make
considerable improvements to the outlook of their websites
to make them more user friendly. Specifically, microdata
libraries and updated survey calendars should be a standard
feature of the websites to ensure easy access to available microdata. |
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