Methodology and Quality Update

Methodology and Quality last update 

  28/04/2024

Statistical Presentation

Data description  

The Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication presents data on the neighborhood safety rate in Saudi Arabia. 
The Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication is a survey conducted to collect data on the main characteristics as follows: 
Providing data on the neighborhood safety indicator for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 16.1.4 source.

Classification system

The following classifications are applied in the Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication:
National Code of Countries and Nationalities (3166 ISO – codes Country):
A statistical classification based on the international standard (ISO 3166_Country codes), which is a standard issued by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO of the UN), and this classification gives numeric and literal codes for the world’s (248) countries, based on the classification of countries. The classification is used in the Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication to classify Saudi or non-Saudi individuals. 
Detailed data is collected through interviews to allow for the production of outputs according to all relevant classifications.
The classifications are available on the GASTAT’s website: www.stats.gov.sa

Sector coverage

Not applicable.

Statistical concepts and definitions

Terminologies and concepts of Neighbourhood Safety Indicator Publication:
•    Safety Perception in the Neighborhood:
The question asked is: How safe do you feel when walking alone in your area/neighborhood after dark? Answer options: Very safe / Somewhat safe / Somewhat unsafe / Very unsafe / I don't walk alone / I don't know.
•    Household Members: 
A household member is an individual or group of individuals, whether related by kinship or not, who share or do not share a familial bond, reside together, share meals, and are present in the household during the survey period. Household members include the following:
   Individuals who usually reside with the family but are absent during the survey period due to temporary stays either inside or outside the kingdom, such as businessmen, tourists, travelers for medical treatment, and students studying abroad.
    Individuals who usually reside with the family but are absent during the survey period due to work shifts, such as guards, doctors, nurses, airport workers, fishermen, etc.
   Domestic workers such as maids and drivers, and others under their jurisdiction who reside with the family.
  Traveling household members during the survey period.

Statistical unit

The statistical unit in Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication is the individual.

Statistical population

The statistical population of the Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication consists of all individuals, Saudis, and non-Saudis, aged 15 years and over who normally reside in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Reference area

The survey sample is a representative sample for Saudi Arabia’s 13 administrative regions.

Time coverage

Data is available for 2023.

Base period

Not applicable. 

Unit of measure

The survey results are displayed as a percentage, including:
•    The relative distribution of safety for individuals aged 15 years and older.
•    The relative distribution of safety for individuals aged 15 years and older by nationality.
•    The relative distribution of safety for individuals aged 15 years and older by sex. 
•    The relative distribution of safety for individuals aged 15 years and older by age groups.

Reference period

References period to the variables or dataset is as follows: 
•    Data of household members and their demographic and housing characteristics are based on the date of the household’s visit and inspection.
•    Data of safety in the neighbourhood is based on the date of the household’s visit and inspection.

Confidentiality 

Confidentiality - policy

According to the Royal Decree No. 23 dated 07-12-1397, data must always be kept confidential, and must be used by GASTAT only for statistical purposes.
Therefore, the data are protected in the data servers of the Authority.

Confidentiality - data treatment

Data are displayed in appropriate tables to facilitate its summarization, comprehension, results extraction, comparison with other data and coming up with statistical connotations for the study community. It is also easier to check tables without the need to see the original questionnaire, which usually include data like names and addresses of individuals, names of data providers, which violates the confidentiality of statistical data.
“Anonymity of data” is one of the most important procedures. To keep data confidential, GASTAT removed personal information of individuals, households, or business entities in a way that does not allow the identification of the respondent either directly (by name, address, contact number, identity number etc.) or indirectly (by combining different - especially rare - characteristics of respondents: age, occupation, education etc.)

Release policy

Release calendar

The Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication results are bound by a release calendar.

Release calendar access

The release calendar is available at: https://www.stats.gov.sa/statistical-calendar-releases

User access

One of GASTAT’s objectives is to better meet its clients' needs, so it immediately provides them with the publication’s results once the Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication is published.
It also receives questions and inquiries from the clients about the Publication and its results through various communication channels, such as:
•    GASTAT’s official website: www.stats.gov.sa
•    GASTAT’s official e-mail address: info@stats.gov.sa
•    Client Support’s e-mail address: info@stats.gov.sa
•    Official visits to GASTAT’s official head office in Riyadh or one of its branches in Saudi Arabia.
•    Official letters.
•    Statistical telephone (199009).

Frequency of dissemination

Annual. 

Accessibility and clarity

News release

The announcements of each publication are available on release calendar as mentioned in 7.2. Release calendar access. The news release can be viewed on the website of GASTAT through the following link:
https://stats.gov.sa/news

Publications

GASTAT issues publications and reports of Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication on a regular basis following a pre-prepared release calendar and available on GASTAT’s website. GASTAT is keen to publish its publications in a manner that serves all users of different types, including publications in different formats that contain (publication tables, data graphs, indicators, methodology and quality report, and used questionnaires) in both English and Arabic.
The results of Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication are available on the link:
https://www.stats.gov.sa/statistics

On-line database

Not available.

Micro-data access 

Not available.

Other

Not available.

Documentation on methodology

Based on internationally recognized scientific standards, following the stages of the General Statistical Business Process Model (GSBPM) starting from the need’s identification stage, through the design, construction, collection, processing, analysis, publication, and ending with the evaluation stage.
The question regarding methodology was added for safety indicator 16.1.4 in the Household Socio-Economic Survey 2023. Source

Quality documentation

Quality documentation covers documentation on methods and standards for assessing, measuring, and monitoring the quality of statistical process and output. It is based on standard quality criteria such as relevance, accuracy and reliability, timeliness and punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability, and coherence.

Quality management

Quality assurance

GASTAT declares that it considers the following principles: impartiality, user orientated, quality of processes and output, effectiveness of statistical processes, reducing the workload for respondents. 
Quality controls and validation of data are actions carried out throughout the process in different stages such as the data input and data collection and other final controls.

Quality assessment

GASTAT performs all statistical activities according to a national model (Generic Statistical Business Process Model – GSBPM). According to the GSBPM, the final phase of statistical activities is overall evaluation using information gathered in each phase or sub-process. This information is used to prepare the evaluation report which outlines all the quality issues related to the specific statistical activity and serves as input for improvement actions.

Relevance 

User needs 

There are a number of external users and beneficiaries who greatly benefit from the Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication data, including:
Ministry of Interior.

The key variables that external users benefit from: 

User satisfaction

Not available.

Completeness 

Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication data are based on the source of the field data collection is the Household Socio-Economic Survey 2023, and the data status is complete.

Accuracy and reliability 

Overall accuracy

•    The data collected is improved through the researchers, that have been selected according to a set of practical and objective criteria and training program related to the field of work.
•    The rules for alerting, prevention, and correction are applied during the data collection process on the electronic questionnaire for the Neighbourhood Safety Indicator publication to improve the data quality.
•    The data is checked with previous years to identify any significant changes in the data. The internal consistency of the data is checked before it is finalized.
•    The links between variables are checked and coherence between different data series is confirmed. 

Timeliness and punctuality 

Timeliness 

The General Authority for Statistics is committed to applying internationally recognized standards in announcing and clarifying the publication time of statistics on the official website through the statistical calendar. In case of any delay, it will be updated accordingly.

Punctuality

Publication takes place in accordance with published release dates for Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication in GASTAT webpage. 

Coherence and comparability

Comparability – geographical

Data are geographically comparable.

Comparability - over time 

The survey started in 2023.

Coherence- cross domain 

Not applicable. 

Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics 

Not applicable. 

Coherence- National Accounts 

Not applicable. 

Coherence - internal 

Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication estimates for a given reference period have full internal coherence, as they are all based on the same corpus of microdata, and they are calculated using the same estimation methods.

Resources used 

Data revision

Data revision - policy

Not applicable, only final results will be published.

Data revision - practice

Not applicable, only final results will be published.

Statistical processing

Source data

The Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication relies on data from the Household Socio-Economic Survey.
The main variables published for the Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication are:
•    Nationality.
•    Gender.
•    Age groups.

Frequency of data collection 

Annual.

Data collection

Data collection from survey:
The Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication data collection is carried out through Computer-Assisted Personal Interviews (CAPI).

Data validation

Data are reviewed and matched to ensure their accuracy and precision in a way that suits their nature with the aim of giving the presented statistics quality and accuracy.
In addition to the data processing and tabulation to check their accuracy, all the outputs are stored and uploaded to the database after being calculated by GASTAT to be reviewed and processed by specialists in Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication through modern technologies and software designed for this purpose.

Data compilation

Data Coding:
In the Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication, interviewers collect from respondents, a detailed description of each field. This information is then coded in-house by an automated process, which is reviewed by a small-dedicated team of coding experts using a series of consistency checks.
Data Editing:
Specialists of (Living Conditions, Lifestyle and Justice Statistics Department) have processed and analyzed data in this stage, and this step was based on the following measures:
•    Sort and arrange data in groups or different categories in a serial order.
•    Summarize detailed data into main points or main data.
•    Linking between many parts of data and make them connected.
•    Process incomplete or missing data.
•    Process illogical data.
•    Converting data into statistically significant data.
•    Organize, display, and interpret data.
Applied statistical estimation: 
GASTAT has relied on the formulas approved by the international standards in calculating Neighborhood Safety Indicator Publication indicators, as follows:
•    Percentage of residents who feel safe walking alone at night in the living area:
The SDG 16 indicator methodology (16.1.4) was used to calculate the indicator and is defined as the percentage of the population who feel safe from a certain age group (15 years and over) through (the number of respondents who feel "very safe" and "somewhat safe") and then divide this total by the total number of respondents *100 source.

Adjustment

Not applicable, only final results will be published.