1. Jean Monnet Chair
Small Area Methods for Monitoring of Poverty and Living conditions in EU (SAMPL-EU)
Income, Consumption, Poverty and Prices
in the European Statistical System
Introduction: objectives and content
Luigi Biggeri

2. Aims and content of teaching activities
The Chair aims at introducing students to the study of statistics on poverty and living conditions to provide tools for implementing and monitoring EU, national and local policies (for evidence-based policy-making) (Monica Pratesi Lectures)
Enhancing the students’ abilities to:
understand and analyze
existing set of indicators of poverty and
living conditions in Europe for policy-making

3. Aims and content of teaching activities
Four modules:
Evidence-based policy making Role of statistics and statistical
at national and local level analysis to support the policy intervention
European Statistical System Organization of the ESS with attention to the data production model and privacy issue (D. Ghio)
Data on Income, Characteristics of data available at Consumption, Poverty and macro and micro level and their
living conditions in the ESS consistency
Measuring Prices: the use of Temporal and Spatial Prices Indexes
price indexes (Purchasing Power Parities) for comparison of Income, Consumption and Poverty

4. Evidence-based Policy Making
Jean Monnet Chair
Evidence-based Policy Making
The role of statistics in supporting the decision making

5. Statistical Reasoning for decision
Steps of General Reasoning Steps of Statistical Reasoning
Problem to be solved Problem to be solved
Information needs Definition of data need
Collection of information Collection of data (Surveys)
Analysis of information Statistical Methods for Anal.
Decision (choice of the action) Decision (support choices)

6. What to know about Statistics
Statistical Information
1 methods of data production
2 sources of statistical data
3 interpretation and comparison
Statistical Methods
1 capability to implement Statistical Analysis
2 capability to interpret and present the results of the analysis

7. What to know about statistical information -a-
1 Data Production
General characteristics of population to measure
Crucial importance of the definitions to:
- conduct measures and estimations
- understand the content of the information
What is the relevant population?
What is(are) the variable(s) of interest?
Methods of producing data
- Complete or sample surveys Populations of units
- Data integration When it is impossible to have data of the population with only one survey (also, may be, for abstract concepts)

8. What to know about statistical information -b-
2 Knowledge of data sources and their characteristics
EU level European Statistical System (ESS) for national accounts and system of surveys (Daniela Ghio)
Local level Usually very few data is available and need to use SAE to produce them
(Monica Pratesi et al.)
3 Interpretation and comparisons
Interpretation Definitions used and Quality of data
Comparisons Never plain: need for standardization

9. What to know about statistical methods
1 Capability to implement Statistical Analysis
Knowledge of statistical methods of analysis
Capability to use the adequate methods for different aims
Knowledge of the intrinsic logic of the methods
2 Capability to interpret and present the results of the analysis
What the data and method used allow
Interpretation of the results obtained for the specific analysis
Methods of presentation of the statistical analyses (tables and graphs)

10. Few References
McClave J.T., Benson P.G. and Terry T.T., (2014), Statistics for Business and Economics, Pearson (Chapter 1, What is Statistics?)
Biggeri L, Bini M., Coli A., Grassini L and Maltagliati M., (2012), Statistica per le Decisioni Aziendali, Pearson (Chapter 1), in Italian Language