Key Quality Terminology

Quality 'Fitness for purpose' The quality of a statistical product can be defined as the fitness for purpose of that product. More specifically, it is the fitness for purpose with regards the following dimensions: relevance, accuracy, timeliness and punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability, and coherence. Quality Management 'encompassing approach to quality work' Quality management provides the organisation with an encompassing approach to quality work. It focuses on the full statistical process, and aims to improve quality and coordinate quality initiatives. It also encourages and promotes a culture of continuous improvement, selfassessment and quality reviews.

For the purposes of this work, 'quality management' includes:

the Principles governing our work, as set out in the UK Code of Practice for Official Statistics the coordination of ongoing quality initiatives that ensure we are Code compliant (e.g. quality reporting, evaluation activities, etc) work that builds on existing standards and best practice the measurement, monitoring and management of data quality on a day to day basis auditing of statistical processes ensuring that all staff are sufficiently equipped to produce quality outputs (e.g. that appropriate training and guidance exist) promoting a culture of systematic quality improvement work

Quality Reviews Reviews may be internal or external and cover the processes or outputs of official statistics, or both. Review is part of the cycle of improvement and aims to identify areas for further examination and improvement. Reviews are a way to audit compliance with the Code of Practice Principles. Quality Assurance 'anticipating and avoiding problems' Quality assurance covers all procedures focused on providing confidence that quality requirements will be fulfilled, and anticipating problems. It requires processes and systems in place that are planned and tested to perform under all conditions, and to self-correct or flag

problems under exceptions. The goal of quality assurance is to prevent, reduce or limit the occurrence of errors in a statistical product and, therefore, to get it right first time.

Statistical example Quality assurance is about creating evidence that errors have not slipped through. For example, testing survey questions to demonstrate that interviewers and respondents understand the concepts and vocabulary, providing 'other' boxes so that exceptional answers will not be forced into mis-codings, providing clear routing so that all relevant questions are asked (and not others), and including triangulations for consistency checking. Quality Control 'responding to observed problems' Quality control is directed only at what can be measured and judged acceptable or not; if measurement is not possible, then quality control cannot be performed. Quality control is used to measure actual performance, compare it to standards and act on the difference, thus it only focuses on accuracy. Quality control is most commonly applied at the process stage of a survey to work that is typically performed by persons with various levels of training and ability, and where the task is repetitive and manual. It therefore applies to activities such as coding, data capture and editing. Statistical examples Quality control is best used to define the quality of the process and identify causes of failure, which informs quality management on where to improve quality assurance so that the causes are mitigated and the process overall improved. For example, measuring the response rate to a survey should lead to investigation of reasons for 'missingness' which might suggest an alternative delivery or incentive to reply. Quality control checks might be applied at the data capture and validation stages where automated checks compare new values to previous ones and throw out those that look suspect. The suspect values would then be looked at manually which would lead to quality improvements over time. Process quality measures might be applied to certain processes as a quality control check (e.g. editing hit rates or response rates). Values would be compared back to those previously obtained from applying the measure, allowing a survey manager to react where values are dropping.

Quality Glossary/ Quality Terminology

W. Edward Deming's 14 management practices to help companies increase their quality and productivity 1. Create constancy of purpose for improving products and services 2. Adopt the new philosophy 3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality 4. End the practice of awarding business on price alone; instead, minimize total cost by working with a single supplier 5. Improve constantly and forever every process for planning, production, and service 6. Institute training on the job 7. Adopt and institute leadership 14 Points 8. Drive out fear 9. Break down barriers between staff areas 10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force 11. Eliminate numerical quotas for the work force and numerical goals for management 12. Remove barriers that rob people of pride of workmanship and eliminate the annual rating or merit system 13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement for everyone 14. Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. A term referring to the Pareto principle, which was first defined by J. M. Juran in 1950. The principle suggests that most effects come from 80-20 relatively few causes, that is, 80% of the effects come from 20% of the possible causes. When a continuing series of lots is considered, a quality level that, for Acceptable quality the purposes of sampling inspection, is the limit of a satisfactory level (AQL) process average The criteria that a system or component must satisfy in order to be Acceptance criteria accepted by a user, customer, or other authorized entity. Inspection of a sample from a lot to decide whether to accept or not accept that lot. There are two typeso Attributes sampling and variable sampling. In attributes sampling, the presence or absence of a Acceptance sampling characteristic is noted in each of the units inspected. In variables sampling, the numerical magnitude of a characteristic is measured and recorded for each inspected unit; this involves reference to a continuous scale of some kind. A specific plan that indicates the sampling sizes and the associated acceptance or non acceptance criteria to be used. In Attributes sampling, for example, there are single, double, multiple, sequential, Acceptance sampling chain, and skip-lot sampling plans. In variables sampling, there are plan single, double, and sequential sampling plans. (For detailed descriptions of these plans, see the standard ANSI/ISO/ASQC 3534-2, Statistics--Vocabulary and Symbols--Statistical Quality Control.) Formal testing conducted to determine whether or not a system

Quality - The totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its ability to meet the stated or implied needs and expectations of the user. Quality Assurance (QA) - An integrated system of management activities involving planning, implementation, assessment, reporting, and quality improvement to ensure that a process, item, or service is of the type and quality needed and expected by the client. Quality Assurance Program Description/Plan - (see Quality Management Plan) Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) - A formal document describing in comprehensive detail the necessary quality assurance (QA), quality control (QC), and other technical activities that must be implemented to ensure that the results of the work performed will satisfy the stated performance criteria. The QAPP components are divided into four classes: 1) Project Management, 2) Measurement/Data Acquisition, 3) Assessment/Oversight, and 4) Data Validation and Usability. Requirements for preparing QAPPs can be found in EPA QA/R-5. Quality Control (QC) - The overall system of technical activities that measures the attributes and performance of a process, item, or service against defined standards to verify that they meet the stated requirements established by the customer; operational techniques and activities that are used to fulfill requirements for quality. The system of activities and checks used to ensure that measurement systems are maintained within prescribed limits, providing protection against "out of control" conditions and ensuring the results are of acceptable quality. Quality Control (QC) Sample - An uncontaminated sample matrix spiked with known amounts of analytes from a source independent of the calibration standards. Generally used to establish intra-laboratory or analyst-specific precision and bias or to assess the performance of all or a portion of the measurement system. Quality Improvement - A management program for improving the quality of operations. Such management programs generally entail a formal mechanism for encouraging worker recommendations with timely management evaluation and feedback or implementation. Quality Management - That aspect of the overall management system of the organization that determines and implements the quality policy. Quality management includes strategic planning, allocation of resources, and other systematic activities (e.g., planning, implementation, and assessment) pertaining to the quality system. Quality Management Plan (QMP) - A formal document that describes the quality system in terms of the organization's structure, the functional responsibilities of management and staff, the lines of authority, and the required interfaces for those planning, implementing, and assessing all activities conducted. Quality System - A structured and documented management system describing the policies, objectives, principles, organizational authority, responsibilities, accountability, and implementation plan of an organization for ensuring quality in its work processes, products (items), and services. The quality system provides the framework for planning, implementing,

and assessing work performed by the organization and for carrying out required quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC).