Influencing Decision-Makers : the role of statisticians

Abstract

The CASD Secretariat acknowledges the proposal of this agenda item by the Statistical Office of the European Communities (EUROSTAT), European Union. The CASD Secretariat endorsed this proposal bearing in mind that statistics are used mainly for making decisions in all aspects of our social and economic life. The Addis Ababa Plan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa in the 1990s recommended that governments should give high priority to statistical activities and that statistics should be seen as central to the formulation of plans and strategies. The Purpose of statistics is to make inferences about a population from which the data are obtained. Statistical data is mainly used as a basis for predictions and decision making. The role of statisticians therefore is to study the various inferential procedures and look for a best predictor or decision making process for a given situation.