Percepción de los pobladores acerca de servicios

Data procurement is the first, and perhaps the most important, stage in any statistical study. Before

it can be properly carried out, decision has to be made on two critical aspects. Firstly, the data

source has to be established; and secondly, the sample size and fi*equency have to be determined.

6.2.1 Source of data

There are two main sources of data, primary and secondary. Primary data sources include all forms

o f original collection o f data. Such data are more expensive to obtain than data from secondary

sources, but can be designed to fit a particular study requirement. Some alternative methods to

collect primary data include sampling procedures, continuous surveys, or a complete census covering

the items o f interest. Secondary data sources is synonymous to published data sources. Data are

collected and published by independent organisations such as government ministries, non-profit

institutions and international research companies. Hence, secondary data sources are often the

easiest source o f data to deal with and usually the cheapest. Their two major drawbacks are that they

are geared towards specific requirements which may not fit those o f interest: and the reliability o f

the data depends on the credibility o f the publishing organisation.

Owing to the nature o f this study, which requires access and manipulation o f a vast quantity o f

industry and government statistics, the choice of secondary data sources is necessary. To date,

several organisations have been collating and pubhshing economic and social statistics o f Singapore,

and they are: The Department of Statistics, Ministry o f Trade and Industry; the Economist Intelligence Unit; and the International Monetary Fund Statistics Department. The first is a

Department o f Statistics, being a government agency, is able to provide a more comprehensive set

of economic and social statistics than the two private organisations. Hence, the governmental source

is used to meet the requirement o f the study and, that is, to involve as many economic and social

indicators as possible in order to make a more exhaustive effort to select indicators that are

significantly related to construction demand. Cross-checks are made against the two private data

sources for some key statistics so as to validate the governmental source.

Following the choice of a suitable data source, a brief account o f the statistical system o f Singapore

and the major statistical activities o f its public sector is provided in the following sections.

6.2.1.1 The statistical system of Singapore

The statistical system of a country refers to the organisation o f the national official statistical activities o f the country (Saw, 1981). The paramount aim o f any statistical system is to generate

timely, accurate and con^rehensive statistics that can be o f immediate use to administrators, policy­

makers and research personnel in both public and private sectors.

A formal system for the collection o f official statistics has been in existence in Singapore as early

as 1921 when a Statistical Bureau was established. For the next fifty years, the statistical system

remained largely centrahsed, with a single organisation responsible for all statistical activities. After

Sing^ore achieved independence in 1965, the statistical system was structurally transformed. The statistical collection mechanism has been decentralised and official statistics are currently collected

and compiled by a large number of statistical agencies as well as government departments and

statutory boards.

The evolution o f Singapore's statistical system can be examined in four phases. They are the

colonial period prior to 1959, the 1960s when Singapore achieved independence, the 1970s which

witnessed Singapore's entry into the industrial age, and the 1980s in which Singapore Joined the

ranks of the newly developed countries. During the first phase, there was limited scope of statistical

activities as Singapore's statistical system comprised a single centralised statistical organisation

administered by the Department o f Statistics. Expansion o f statistical activities only took place in

the 1960s in response to the increased demand for statistics. The expansion and diversification of

the economic activities to include manufacturing, commerce and services necessitated the collection

o f a wider range o f statistics. The rapid expansion o f the activities and responsibilities of the

decentralised statistical system was adopted and implemented. A research and statistics section was

set up in each of the four Ministries namely. Labour, National Development, Education and Health

which have statistical activities that are sufficiently complex, plentiful, specialised and nationally

important to warrant the establishment o f a separate statistical system within each o f them. In the

1980s, there was a further rationalisation and decentralisation o f statistical activities in Singapore.

The collection, compilation and publication o f statistics for particular areas or sectors were

transferred from the Department of Statistics to several other public-sector organisations which have

administrative responsibility over those areas or sectors. However, in order to ensure that the

decentralisation would not adversely affect the efficiency o f data analysis and dissemination, a

system o f co-ordination was put in place. Co-ordination was essential to minimise duphcation o f

efforts in data collection, facilitate optimal allocation o f resources, ensure a high standard of

statistical work and improve the efficiency and effectiveness o f statistical activities and projects.

The Department achieves these objectives by monitoring the statistical activities, promoting national

statistical standards and administering statistical staff development. As the national statistical

authority, the Department o f Statistics remains responsible for the establishment and management of the national statistical information system. As the custodian o f Singapore official statistics, the

Departm ent is responsible for collating and disseminating statistical information to the general public.

Over the years o f statistical development in Singapore, a few pertinent issues have arisen and were

highhghted by Cheung (1994) as follows:

1) Decentralisation o f statistical activities

The decentralisation o f statistical activities in Singapore has benefited users o f statistics

in the last two decades. Firstly, there is closer contact and greater interaction between

statistical personnel and data users in specific ministries and statutory boards, leading to

more relevant statistics being collected and compiled. Secondly, speciahsation of

statistical personnel in specific subject matters enhances the quality and timeliness o f the

statistical series. However, there is a limit to further extension o f decentralisation as there

is also a need to guard against over-burdening o f respondents through multiple data collection activities by different public-sector agencies.

2) Integrity o f official statistics

W ith the increasing sophistication o f data users, official statistics are open to greater

maintain a high professional standard in order to ensure the integrity o f official statistics

and public confidence in the statistics. It is important that these agencies conform to

international statistical standards and practice, and adopt sound statistical techniques and

methodologies. In recent years, the Department o f Statistics has taken steps to provide

users with better understanding o f the integrity and validity o f its statistical series. Basic

concepts and statistical methods are explained and made public through feature articles

in the Department's quarterly bulletin.

3) Maximisation o f returns to statistical system

Given the rapid changes in Singapore's society and economy, government statistical

agencies need to constantly monitor and review the statistics collected to ensure their

relevance and hence maximise returns to the statistical system. These agencies need

to anticipate and keep track o f new areas o f interest and concern, and changes in data needs and allocate resources to critical areas. At the same time, they have to review

current statistical priorities and focus on improving cost-effectiveness o f existing data

collections.