Relevance
Cultural statistics
data is collected in collaboration with the Creative Economy Working Group,
within the Ministry for Finance to make these statistics more relevant and comprehensive
for national needs.
The
NSO culture statistics programme started in 2001 and over the years data
related to culture has been collected for parish feasts, Good Friday
processions, cinema statistics, libraries, teaching of performing arts,
cultural events by local councils, band clubs and museums, and historical sites.
Culture
participation surveys among Maltese residents are also carried out around every
5 years.
Methodological
description of survey
Data related to libraries
and cultural events by local councils is obtained from administrative sources. For the remaining cultural topics, data is obtained
by means of questionnaires which are sent by mail or email to the concerned organisations.
Given that the target populations are
very small for all cultural surveys, a census is taken for each case.
Cultural participation
surveys are conducted on persons aged 16 years and over residing in private
households. A stratified random approach
is used to select participants and the collection mode is CATI.
Accuracy and
reliability of data
Further information about accuracy
and reliability of data can be viewed from the quality reports available on the
NSO’s metadata website.
Timeliness and
punctuality of data
Scheduled news releases are
published regularly throughout the year with regards to culture statistics. For a particular reference year t, data is
normally published in year t+1.
Accessibility and
clarity of data
In 2006, a publication entitled
‘Culture 2004’ was issued. Another
publication related to culture participation was published in 2012, entitled
‘Culture Participation Survey 2011’. These publications and the dedicated news
releases are available on the NSO’s website.
Coherence and
comparability/consistency of data
Cultural data is fully comparable
at a national level only given that no European Union guidelines are available.
The data is not comparable with any other statistical domains being of a
different nature and collecting different information. Various news releases related to culture are
not comparable within themselves in view of a difference in the thematic area.
In general, data is fully consistent and
therefore comparable and reconcilable over time. Since different cultural data
is collected, the length of comparability varies according to the particular
cultural event.
Metadata