Abstract

Statistics plays a crucial role in our societies. They contribute to inputs and outputs for all human activities. Ensuring that both the production and the use of statistics follow the highest ethical criteria contributes to gain public trust in statistics, whatever the domain concerned.

The ISI’s Declaration on Professional Ethics consists of a statement of Shared Professional Values and a set of Ethical Principles that derive from these values. The aim of the Declaration is to enable practitioners' ethical judgments and decisions to be informed by shared values and experience, rather than by rigid rules imposed by the profession. The Declaration documents held principles of the profession and identifies factors that obstruct their implementation; is a support to help spot the variety of relevant issues for proper ethical behaviours; and, a tool for dialogue to argue about the obligations and responsibilities that go with professional good practices, including in contexts of undue pressures that can come from Employers, Clients, and Funders.

In order to serve the implementation of the Declaration on Professional Ethics, the ISI has a “Board for the Advancement of Statistical Ethics”. The Board acts as the Declaration’s institutional steward, drafting proposed changes and monitoring the continued adequacy of the Declaration regarding evolving ethical issues. The Board organises its work around three complementary strands of activity: Empowerment, Enforcement and Evidence.

Through Empowerment, the Board enables the profession to act ethically by developing guidelines and disseminating case studies, contributing to ethics training programmes, and participating in professional forums and publications that promote good practice.

Through Evidence, the Board builds and maintains the empirical record on which the continued adequacy of the Declaration is judged. It monitors emerging developments in statistics and data science and periodically assesses whether the Declaration itself requires review.

Through Enforcement, the Board gives the Declaration practical effect including when concerns are raised. It screens and assesses possible ethical breaches and may issue statements, including public ones, once its established assessment process has been completed. For example, in 2025, the ISI issued a statement about the dismissal of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner (https://isi-web.org/statement/statement-about-dismissal-bureau-labor-statistics-bls-commissioner-erika-mcentarfer).

To ensure the Board acts appropriately and professionally, a set of guidelines to support its Enforcement function have been established.

This presentation will share an outline of the Board's enforcement guidelines and share a real example of their application. The presentation will build trust in the Board's enforcement role and transparency in the Board' activities.