Wednesday 11th February 2015

Statistics and the Media

In association with the RSS Sheffield Local Group

Kevin McConway - Department of Mathematics and Statistics, The Open University [Presentation]

How the media operate: a statistician's view

How should statisticians interact with journalists? What should statisticians know about how the media operate? For several years I have worked (occasionally) with journalists, and provided expert statistical comments on press releases and media stories. I will describe my experience of the many-sided relationship between scientists, press officers, journalists, and the public they are writing for, from the point of view of the statisticians who are also involved. Using examples such as the question of whether mobile phones cause brain tumours, I will explain how none of the parties in this relationship makes things easy for the others. And I will present a few reasons for being optimistic about the position of statistics in the media.

Andy Sutherland - Former Head of Profession for Statistics, Health and Social Care Information Centre [Presentation]

Have I got Statistics for You!

Government depends on statistics to take forward its work, and to make arguments and debate issues in public. The public depend on Government Statistics to inform themselves and to hold Government to account. In this presentation Andy reflects on the various methods and mechanisms for obtaining and presenting figures for use in political debate, and how these are used and, sometimes, abused.

The meeting will begin with a short local group AGM and include a short presentation by Jenny Freeman (University of Leeds and RSS Vice President for External Affairs) on the RSS ambassadors’ programme.

Room: Seminar Room 8.49n, Worsley Building, University of Leeds. See campus map (Building 95)

Time: From 3pm until 5pm, teas and coffees at the venue from 2:30pm