Practical techniques To assess the validity, reliability and impartiality of the data, ask: ›› What is the subject of the data? On some particularly sensitive or When combined with and analysed against controversial topics, government data human rights standards and principles, can be notoriously unreliable. government data can be useful in exposing ›› How are survey questions framed? violations of economic, social and cultural rights. Sometimes questions are leading, and When looking at government statistics, therefore, therefore bias the answer. it’s helpful to ask: What does this tell me about ›› What is the sample size? It may be too narrow to be representative. ›› How frequently is the data collected? The data may be stale. ›› Who collects the data? Potential conflict of interest or resource limitation. ›› Who publishes the data? Potential conflict of interest. 42 Analysing statistics from a human rights perspective the availability, accessibility and quality of goods and services? Are there particular regions or particular groups that are marginalised or discriminated against? How have things changed over time? Have they gotten better or worse?