Consultation objectives

This study was designed to provide the Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics Division with client feedback on the quality of the Tourism Statistics Program and related services to help the division better understand clients’ needs and priorities.

In addition to ongoing discussions with the partners who provide program feedback, the Tourism Statistics Program conducted a client satisfaction survey in September 2010.

Consultation methodology

An electronic questionnaire was developed in both official languages that allowed respondents to evaluate the programs and services. Satisfaction and importance were rated on a 5-point scale from low (1) to high (5) and respondents were invited to provide comments.

Invitations to participate in the survey were sent to 481 clients of the Tourism Statistics Program.

How to get involved

This consultation is now closed.

Individuals who wish to obtain more information or to take part in a consultation should contact Statistics Canada through the Statistical Information Service.

Please note that Statistics Canada selects participants for each consultation to ensure feedback from a representative sample of the target population for the study. Not all applicants are asked to participate in a given consultation.

Results

Overall, client satisfaction was positive with respect to the Tourism Statistics Program. Documentation (information about concepts, sources, methods and data quality) and ease of use of the material received the highest satisfaction ratings. Most respondents agreed that the tourism statistics allowed them to better understand the trends and issues of the tourism sector and helped them to make more informed decisions.

Two products were evaluated: Travel Survey of Residents of Canada (TSRC) standard tables and International Travel, an annual publication based on the International Travel Survey (ITS). Most respondents rated the two products as important or critical—TSRC (83%), International Travel (84%).

The lowest satisfaction result was for the timeliness of the data. Comments were informative, but varied. Concerns were expressed with the timeliness of the TSRC estimates for 2006 and 2007. Information gaps were identified for both ITS and TSRC.

Many respondents would like to see the scope, timeliness and the level of detail of the data improved. Data at the provincial and municipal levels, as well as a quicker turnaround for all data, was also requested.

Statistics Canada thanks participants for their participation in this consultation. Their insights guide the Agency’s web development and ensure that the final products meet users’ expectations.

Consultation objectives

In April 2012, Statistics Canada launched its three-year New Dissemination Model project with the goal of modernizing the methods and framework for disseminating data via its website. In June 2013, Communications Division conducted usability testing on four areas of the site that help make up the new geography component of the New Dissemination Model — Browse by subject, Geography door (mapping tool), and the Change the geography feature of the Key statistics and Census profiles.

Consultation methodology

Statistics Canada held in-person usability consultations in Ottawa. In total, 10 participants were asked to complete tasks using the new geography component and to provide feedback on its ease of use.

Results

What worked

The Browse by subject feature was well received, with most participants successfully completing their tasks.

Participants liked the Change the geography feature in the census profiles and in the Key statistics section on the subject landing page and the search results page.

They also liked how the search results were presented by type of product (data, analysis, methods) on the search result page.

The Key statistics feature on the home page also tested well, and was considered intuitive and easy to use.

What did not work

Participants noted that the proposed Geography mapping tool was not intuitive, with many finding it too complex and difficult to use.

The key indicators and featured products on the subject landing page were not always used by participants to complete tasks, as many did not notice them or misunderstood their function.

Participants also found certain elements on the results landing page hard to identify, such as the geography details in product titles and geography filters on the right-hand sidebar. Some found that, generally, the product titles on the page were hard to decipher.

While the Change the geography features tested well on the Census profiles, some participants found manipulating the census profile data tables difficult: they were given too many geographical variables from which to choose, the table formatting was unclear at times, and table customization was unintuitive.

Recommendations

In general, participants liked many of the features in the geography component of the New Dissemination Model. However, testing revealed a number of areas for further improvement and testing:

• Provide the Geography door (mapping tool) with a more intuitive label, a simpler list of geographic variables and a more intuitive interface
• Ensure users have easy access to the tutorial for the geography mapping tool
• Simplify the product titles on the subject results page, and clearly indicate the geographic information for the products within the title
• Simplify table customization on the Census profiles, simplify the geography variables of data tables, and ensure that these have clearly visible formatting.

Statistics Canada thanks participants for their participation in this consultation. Their insights guide the Agency’s web development and ensure that the final products meet users’ expectations.

Consultation objectives

The survey was designed to measure client satisfaction with Standards Division services, including classifications and variables, classification search and coding tools, and information about surveys and statistical programs (i.e., statistical metadata).

Consultation methodology

To evaluate its performance, Standards Division gathered client feedback through an Internet-based survey of external users and comprehensive, face-to-face consultations with members of the Data Liberation Initiative External Advisory Committee. As well, quality reviews were conducted of the Integrated Metadata Base program and the implementation of the Chart of Accounts. These reviews produced a set of best practices and recommendations for future work. Another source of information was the report on web traffic for the previous five years.

How to get involved

Individuals who wish to obtain more information or to take part in a consultation should contact Statistics Canada through the Statistical Information Service.

Please note that Statistics Canada selects participants for each consultation to ensure feedback from a representative sample of the target population for the study. Not all applicants are asked to participate in a given consultation.

Results

Compared with 2006 levels, client satisfaction with the products and services provided by Standards Division improved. Divisional activities continued to meet or mostly meet the targets set by the agency, with the exception of the targeted annual percentage increase in the number of electronic page views of statistical metadata and classifications.

For external clients, the level of satisfaction with the information supporting surveys and statistical programs, i.e., the Definitions, Data Sources and Methods section of the Statistics Canada website, rose from 3.63 to 3.74 out of 5.

As a percentage of the total page views for the Statistics Canada website, page views for the Standards program remain high. Results and comments from the client surveys indicate that clients want access to statistical metadata and classifications from the Statistics Canada website homepage. It was not obvious to users that this meta-information was located in the Key resources module on the homepage and this may explain the slower than expected growth rates in the web traffic.

Statistics Canada thanks participants for their participation in this consultation. Their insights guide the Agency's web development and ensure that the final products meet users' expectations.