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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 November 2014
In a discussion of recent developments it is well to keep in mind that the new grows out of and is founded on the old; that, in statistics as in other fields, our achievements of the present evolve from the endeavours of the past. Similarly our future gains will represent a further stage growing out of our present and past accomplishments.
In Canada we have had a well-developed statistical system for many years. The decennial population and distribution censuses, annual industrial censuses, foreign trade and balance of payments statistics, price and agricultural statistics, to mention only some of the more prominent examples, had been securely established as “going concerns” prior to the Second World War. From this substantial base, the war and events in the post-war years hastened the process of extension into new statistical fields and the qualitative improvement of our whole statistical system.
While our present achievements stem from past accomplishments, one can discern a substantially different attitude toward statistics now than in pre-war years, by public and private bodies alike. There appears to be a much more widespread awareness of the importance of quantitative data in the solution of problems of various sorts than formerly. This is a natural concomitant of an advancing industrial society. The rapid expansion of the Canadian economy, the vigorous emphasis on social welfare, the increasing complexity of our social structure, and the broader role in economic and social affairs that governments have been forced to assume, all find expression in pressing and persistent demands for more statistics of the highest quality by business, governments, and the public at large. In addition, the work of the United Nations Statistical Commission, the Statistical Office of the Economic and Social Council, and other international bodies have created new demands for statistical information.
I wish to acknowledge the substantial contributions that my colleagues at the Bureau made to this paper.
1 Collection problems may arise even in the case of firms which have requested the new data being collected. This sometimes happens when statistics are requested by one department of a firm but the basic data required are supplied by a department of the same firm not in touch with its associates on the matter involved.
2 What follows is, in the main, an amended version of a D.B.S. statement included in a report on the proceedings of a symposium on The Role of Statistics in the Formulation of Policy by Business which was held at the 26th annual meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association in Winnipeg, June, 1954. A copy of this report, which reproduces all the papers submitted at the symposium, may be obtained on request from the Dominion Bureau of Statistics.
3 The Bureau is also experimenting with the application of sampling in the field of motor carrier statistics. A test survey is being carried out this year with a view to appraising the efficiency of this method for obtaining data on motor carrier traffic and motor vehicle use. Experimentation with probability sampling techniques is also taking place in the field of current agricultural statistics at the farm level; at present nearly all data in this field are collected through “non-random” surveys.
4 At the present time, proposals are under consideration that the Bureau consolidate and publish, on a national and regional basis, five-year forecasts by major electric power producers of electric power capability and demand.
5 In addition to various mechanical editing procedures which have been developed in recent years, these include programmes of research for testing various sampling procedures and results, careful study for internal consistency of the tabular material, elaborate analysis of the series (e.g., movement of deflated Gross National Product) on the basis of external data, and so on. It will be seen, too, that the subject-matter discussed under the other headings of this paper represents aspects of qualitative improvements of the statistical system.
6 A uniform classification of commodities for Canadian railway freight statistics was completed by a committee of railway representatives, the Bureau, and the Board of Transport Commissioners. The revised classification was put into effect in the beginning of 1954. The conversion of Canadian trade statistics to the standard international trade classification lias also been improved.
7 A new sample of retail consumer credit is to be put into effect by the Bureau in the near future. In this connection, it is hoped to collect data to permit quarterly calculation of new credit granted and repayments, as well as the total amount outstanding. The results of a new survey on certain financial aspects of private trusted pension funds have recendy been published.
It is sometimes suggested that personal saving, as defined in the National Accounts, contains imputed items. However, this is not so, as all imputed components included on the income side are also included on the expenditure side, so that the residual item of disposable income less expenditure does not contain any imputations. Furthermore, personal saving as defined in the Accounts is both meaningful and useful for economic analysis; it measures additions to the “net worth” of the personal sector and not the “cash position” of the personal sector. However, the fact that personal saving is reduced by depreciation adjustments on owner-occupied housing (and owner-occupied farm property) may be a valid criticism of the present concept from some points of view.