The management of quality at Statistics Canada occurs within a matrix management framework – project management operating within the functional organization. The Agency is functionally organized into seven Fields. Four of these are primarily responsible for statistical programs of data production and analysis in various subject-matter areas. The other three Fields are primarily involved in the provision of infrastructure and services to be used by the statistical programs. The typical statistical program is managed by one of the subject-matter divisions and draws heavily on the resources of service areas for inputs to their programs, particularly for collection and processing operations, for informatics support, for statistical methodology, and for marketing and dissemination support.

The use of an interdisciplinary project team approach for the design or redesign of a statistical program is important in ensuring that quality considerations relating to all the components and steps in the program receive appropriate attention during design, implementation and assessment. It is the responsibility of the functional organizations to ensure that project teams are adequately staffed with people able to speak with expertise and authority for their functional area. Subject-matter staff bring knowledge of content, client needs, and relevance. Methodologists bring their expertise in statistical methods and data quality trade-offs, especially with respect to accuracy, timeliness and cost. Operations experts bring experience in operational methods, and concerns for practicality, efficiency, field staff and respondents. The system experts bring a systems view, and knowledge of technology standards and tools to the design.

It is within such a project team that the many decisions and trade-offs necessary to ensure an appropriate balance between concern for quality and considerations of cost and response burden are made. Together the team has to balance the conflicting pressures in order to develop an optimal design. The fact that each member of the team is a part of a specialized functional organization, from which a variety of more specialized and management resources can be called upon when warranted, helps in resolving both technical challenges and conflicts arising in a project.

Projects are normally guided by a more senior Steering Committee that may include managers from each of the major participating areas. This Committee, which is part of the formal approval mechanism for the design and implementation of the program, provides overall guidance, broad budgetary and design parameters, and helps to ensure that appropriate resources are available to the project. It also provides a forum for resolving any issues that cannot be satisfactorily resolved within the project team.

This management framework is a systemic and important component of Statistics Canada’s Quality Assurance Framework.