Methodology
1. What are they and what are they for
Statistical classifications are logical instruments to systematically and categorically organise the characteristics of a given phenomenon in economics or society. The purpose of these instruments is to standardise statistics in order to ensure both the spatial and temporal comparability of the information. In the case of Catalonia, they also contribute to advancing the normalisation of Catalan terminology.
2. Main families
The statistical classifications are grouped together by thematic typologies called "families". The main families are economic classifications (economic activities and products) and demographic and social classifications (employment, education and health). Within these two major families, the statistical classifications are divided into six thematic areas: economic activities, products, employment, education, the area of health and consumption.
The classifications of economic activities are used to classify the productive units upon the basis of the type of activity they conduct, in order to obtain data enabling us to draw up statistics on production and profitability.
The classifications of products enable us to classify the products and thus draw up statistics relating them to the operations to which they are subjected (production, foreign trade, and transport).
The classifications of occupations enable us to obtain statistical data comparable to the state and international classifications and thus detect different needs and problems such as unemployment, job programmes, and migration.
The education classifications are the most suitable statistical instrument for the presentation of the education statistics of the different countries, whose use guarantees the comparability of the statistical data. The statistical unit under consideration is based on the educational programme, in which we can distinguish three different perspectives: the level of studies, the level of education acquired and the study sector.
The purpose of the classifications in the area of health is the systematic recording, interpretation, and comparability of data on mortality and morbidity collected in the different countries and at different moments in time.
The consumption classifications are a sub-product of the classifications of products, which also form part of the general scheme for the harmonisation of the statistical classifications taken into account by the official statistical bodies. These classifications are used to measure the final consumption expenditure of families, the public administrations, and other institutions.
3. Reference articles
- Martí, G.: "La terminologia estadística i alguns aspectes terminològics de les classificacions estadístiques" (PDF). Qüestiió, v. 18, 3, Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya, 1994
- Martínez, J. M.: "Nomenclatures i classificacions estadístiques" (PDF). Qüestiió, v. 18, 3, Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya, 1994
- Martínez, J.M.; Presagué, D; Ripoll, E: "Els serveis en la futura Classificació catalana d'activitats econòmiques 2009 (CCAE-2009)". Nota d'economia 90, Departament d'Economia i Finances, 2008
- Papageorgiou, H.; Vardaki, M.; Petrakos, M.; Theodorou, E.; Pentaris F.: "Harmonisation of economic statistical classifications and related transformations". Fourth NTTS seminar, New Techniques and Technologies for Statistics. Pre-Proceedings. v. 1, pp. 345–354, 2001
- Rainer, N.: "The Revised System of International Classifications" (ZIP). Reading in Nomenclatures, Eurostat, 1995
4. Options for viewing the statistical classifications
The classifications can be viewed using different options:
- Presentation
This provides the user with the general and specific characteristics of the classification viewed.
- Explanatory note
This explains to the user the content of the selected heading in terms of the concept and the exemplification.
- Abridged
This includes the classification at a higher aggregated level to meet the formal needs resulting from the presentation of the data on statistical charts.
- Aggregated
This is an aggregation of codes different from the levels of the classification for a specific purpose.
- Specific view
This is intended to facilitate the viewing of a code or a set of specific codes of the classification based on the literals of the classification. For this type of view it is necessary to know the specificity of the language used in the different levels of the classification. If this element is missing, the viewing can be performed by means of the support for the codification.
- Support for the codification
This is intended to facilitate the viewing of the classification upon the basis of a list of terms that has already been drawn up.
- Correspondences
These involve codifying each category of a classification in accordance with the most suitable category of another classification. This operation will be more effective the more the categories selected to establish the correspondence are disaggregated. The greater the disaggregation, the lesser the uncertainty and the greater the wealth of information when it comes to classifying a category from one classification into another. The correspondences are arranged in accordance with the different levels of disaggregation; in the event that one of the categories is related to more than one category of the other, it is identified with a "P" (partition), accompanied by the number of categories it relates to.