ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a synoptic overview of the statistical landscape in the 20th century. Against the backdrop of policy developments in the pre- and post-WWII eras, an unprecedented appetite for statistics led to the creation of most statistical infrastructure and indicators we recognize today. The key players of the statistical system are profiled. They include national statistical offices, other public sources, private sector entities, non-profits, the research community, and international organizations. The modus operandi of statistical operations is also described, notably the rise and predominance of surveys as data sources. The survey represents an influential creation, writing much of the story of our data until late into the 20th century. The proliferation and growth of statistics continued unabated but the arrival of digitization and other forces altered their evolution. The narrative highlights the logic and documents the dynamics behind the early attempts to switch from surveys to administrative data, identifies a paradigm shift, and explains its profound implications in the design of socio-economic research. Fact-checking tips deal with seemingly similar look-alike statistics and show how shifting denominators change the meaning of indicators.
