ESRA 2027 sessions by theme
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Rethinking Data Quality Beyond Probability Sampling: Citizen-Data, New Frameworks and Statistical Challenges |
| Coordinator 1 | Professor Monica Pratesi (University of Pisa) |
| Coordinator 2 | Dr Francesca Perucci (Open Data Watch) |
Session Details
The growing availability of citizen-data (CD) is reshaping the data ecosystem and creating new opportunities to complement surveys and official statistics. Community-based surveys, participatory mapping, crowdsourcing platforms, citizen science, digital reporting systems, and sensor-based initiatives can provide timely, granular and context-rich information, particularly for populations, territories and phenomena that are difficult to capture through traditional data sources. Their increasing use, however, raises fundamental questions about how data quality should be conceptualized and assessed.
Many established quality concepts in survey research—such as accuracy, reliability, representativeness and credibility—have their methodological roots in probability sampling and in the sampling distributions of estimators. Citizen-data may instead arise from self-selection, non-probability sampling, purposive participation, continuous observation, community reporting or other data-generating processes for which conventional inferential properties cannot be directly invoked.
This session invites contributions addressing how established statistical quality concepts can be extended, reformulated or complemented to accommodate these diverse data-generating processes. Particular attention will be given to emerging frameworks for citizen data quality, including the Copenhagen Framework, and to the relationship between statistical dimensions of quality and broader dimensions such as inclusiveness, trustworthiness, transparency, relevance and fitness for purpose.
Rather than seeking a single prescriptive set of quality measures, the session will explore an example-driven approach in which quality dimensions are operationalized according to the characteristics and intended uses of different types of citizen data. Contributions based on empirical applications, methodological developments, comparisons with probability and non-probability surveys, data integration and quality assessment practices are particularly welcome.
The session ultimately aims to stimulate dialogue between survey statisticians, citizen-data producers, civil society organizations and official statistics on how rigorous but flexible quality frameworks can support the responsible use and integration of citizen-data into contemporary statistical systems.
