How we work with numbers

Workforce Data Lab publishes people-analytics research for readers who will check the method before they quote the finding. This page states the standard we hold ourselves to, so that a reader can tell quickly whether a piece is worth citing.

What every piece must carry

• A named source for every figure, linked to the publisher’s own material. If we cannot link it, we do not publish it.
• Sample size and population, stated in the text rather than a footnote. A benchmark drawn from 180 respondents is a different object from one drawn from 18,000, and the reader is entitled to know which they are holding.
• The date the data was collected, not just the date it was published.
• Whether a figure is measured, reported or derived. Measured means we ran the analysis. Reported means someone else did and we are citing them. Derived means we calculated it from someone else’s inputs, and the inputs are named.

What we will not do

• Present a vendor’s marketing survey as independent research.
• Quote a percentage without its denominator.
• Fill a gap with an estimate and let it read as a measurement.
• Attribute a statistic to an organisation that has not published it.

Corrections

Where a figure turns out to be wrong, the correction goes at the top of the piece with the date and what changed. Silent edits defeat the purpose of publishing a method at all.