III. >> M  ethodological Approaches to Human Rights Indicators >> Sources and data-generating mechanisms Box 15 Importance of administrative data in human rights assessments A quantitative approach to assessing human rights in general and to monitoring the implementation of a State’s human rights obligations in particular inevitably has to be informed by the use of meaningful, standardized and cost-effective administrative data. There are several reasons why it is necessary to seek administrative data on the State’s developmental and governance initiatives that can be related to the promotion and protection of human rights. Firstly , administrative data are generated at the interface between an agency and the public or the ben eficiaries of its actions. In other words, they reflect the efficacy of a State or its agency’s administrative action in fulfilling obligations flowing from its developmental and governance objectives or its human rights obligations. Such information is critical for holding States accountable. Secondly , administrative data meet the information requirement for policy and programme formulation  and show the progress in their implementation. Thirdly, since the State is the primary human rights duty bearer and the assessment focuses on its action or inaction, a data set that is generated by its own machinery is likely to be more acceptable to it than information from non-governmental and other sources. As administrative data are collected by various ministries and public agencies at grass-roots level, the third consideration entails that the generation of administrative data should be based on rigorous guidelines and standardized methodology for recording and compiling the relevant information. While these guidelines could come from national statistical agencies and specialized international organizations, there is invariably a need for a periodic independent review to establish the credibility of administrative data sets. Statistical surveys Statistical surveys are used to collect direct quantitative and qualitative information on population subsets. In contrast to a census (see below), where all members of the population have to be surveyed, a statistical or sample survey collects data from a fraction of the population under study, with the objective of drawing inferences on the entire population. In this respect, sample surveys are cost-effective means of collecting information in situations where complete enumeration is impracticable or data from administrative sources are not available. Many indicators for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are compiled using statistical survey data owing to the lack of accurate administrative records. They constitute an important data-generating mechanism for use in human rights assessments for both public agencies (in generating and validating administrative data) and non- Human Rights Indicators 59