What's your job about?
I am part of the Household Survey and Data Integration (short for ‘CHIPS’) team. The household survey works revolve around sample design and selection, survey processing methods such as weightings and dealing with non-response, as well as providing support and understanding of data quality to subject matter areas. On the other hand, the data integration work revolves around linking administrative data across the different government agencies, which help assist and promote better policy evaluation and academic research. My daily work involves data manipulation and data analysis. One project I am currently working on is assisting the IDI (Integrated Data Infrastructure) team with creating a bias analysis report. We investigated which datasets is of the most interest to researchers who submit applications for IDI data access and conduct bias analysis for that specific dataset, where we look to see whether there are any biases for the different subpopulations (e.g. age, sex, ethnicity) when it comes to the proportion of link rate
What's your background?
I grew up in Singapore and moved to Auckland in 2018 to pursue my bachelor. Like most people, I wasn’t sure what I should major in. I have a passion for Psychology and wanted to be a cognitive psychologist. However, when I took my first introductory to statistics paper, I fell in love with it and ended up pursuing both statistics and psychology as my major. Back in Singapore, I pursued a diploma in Clean Energy Engineering after graduating from high school. I then served in the Singapore Navy for 2 years before moving to NZ. I am currently part of the Ethnic Communities Graduate Programme that is being run by the Department of Internal Affairs. This programme placed me in Stats NZ for 18 months, where I get to learn and experience what it’s like to be a graduate statistical analyst.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
I think it would be quite a steep learning curve for people who do not have either mathematics, statistics, or computer science background. This is because most of my job has been involved with data manipulation and data analysis, and having knowledge of statistics or mathematics helps in understanding why certain techniques are being carried out. That being said, it is possible to learn those skills while being on the job but be prepared for some frustrating coding sessions!
What's the coolest thing about your job?
I love coding and statistics. Thus, being able to do work that combines those two is what I love most about my job. Also, the culture at Stats NZ is another great thing about my job. All of my team members are friendly and approachable, making me feel really comfortable when it comes to asking them for advice.
What are the limitations of your job?
There are a lot of statistical/mathematical concepts and coding terminologies that you will deal with. Thus, it can be a bit overwhelming in the initial stages if you are not that comfortable with those ideas and concepts.
3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...