Statistics
Lucy Letby and the problem with statistics
First Fred West, now Lucy Letby. At this rate, it won’t be long before Herefordshire has produced more serial killers…
Bayes’s Theorem: the mathematical formula that ‘explains the world’
An obscure 18th-century Presbyterian minister’s insights into statistics are still valued today in making strategic economic decisions and forecasts
The genius of More or Less
In a week of slim audio pickings, I spent time reacquainting myself with some of the BBC classics and can…
What is behind the increase of non-Covid related deaths?
The latest data on weekly deaths in England and Wales, published today by the Office of National Statistics, show what…
Covid statistics are just politics by other means
Statistics is the continuation of politics by other means, to misquote Clausewitz. One hundred and fifty years after the crushing…
How to understand – and report – figures for ‘Covid deaths’
Every day, now, we are seeing figures for ‘Covid deaths’. These numbers are often expressed on graphs showing an exponential…
I could have stopped Harold Shipman’s killing spree and saved 175 lives
Scientists, it turns out, are really bad at statistics. Numerous studies show that a startling proportion of academics consistently misunderstand…
What we need is a Freedom of Uninformation Act
One dietary fad that never made sense to me was the campaign against the consumption of eggs. Now call me…
Want greater diversity? Try being less fair
In its hasty dismissal of James Damore, Google showed a worrying disregard for one of the most important freedoms within…
Staines, Pile o’ Bones and other towns that changed name
Name that town The representative of Slough in the UK Youth Parliament called for the town’s name to be changed…
Who killed murder?
The mystery of violent crime’s dramatic decline
Henry Worsley and the annals of heroic British failure
So near and yet so far Henry Worsley died in a Chilean hospital of peritonitis after being airlifted from Antartica,…
What to expect in 2016 (less mercy from the taxman)
In with the new How the new year is being celebrated around the world. From 1 January… BRITAIN: Annual Investment…
There are things we don’t mind paying for – and things we do
Here’s a challenge for film buffs: can anyone remember, from the entire canon of cinema and television, a single scene…
The war on pensioners
Young people are being taught to resent their elders on the basis of tendentious claims and alarmist statistics
How common is adultery? Much more common than getting caught
How many cheats? More data on members of extramarital dating site Ashley Madison were put online. How widespread is adultery?…
How many asexuals are there?
No sex, please Several friends of the late Sir Edward Heath asserted that he could not be guilty of sexually…
How weird is it to have a second kitchen?
Cooking statistics Ed Miliband was photographed in a miserable kitchen, but it turned out to be only a snack preparation…
Female bishops are very, very old news
Female bishops The Reverend Libby Lane was ordained as Bishop of Stockport, the Church of England’s first female bishop. —…
The hottest year on which record?
Did you know that 2014 was the hottest year ever recorded in the entire history of the world? Probably you…
Reasons for Ed Miliband to be cheerful (we had to stretch a bit)
Election omens Reasons for Ed Miliband to feel confident in 2015: — Only three parliaments since 1945 have run to…
100 years of Pyrex, processed cheese and nudes in movies
Marking a century Some things which celebrate their 100th birthday in 2015: 3-D films The first was shown at the…
Left-handed people are stupid (and everyone who worries about immigration is a bigot)
Thoroughly cheering news emerged this week that left-handed people are likely to earn between 10 and 12 per cent less…
The price of seeing Santa (and what it gets you)
Dear Santas A £22.50 a head Christmas theme park in Warwickshire designed by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen closed temporarily for improvements after…
Six rivals for the name Isis
Not in their name The BBC decided to start calling the Islamic terror group Isis by the acronym IS instead.…
