Don't be fooled: how to read numbers and understand data
Part 1 in our new mini-series on how to analyse information and ask better questions
Part 1 of our new mini-series on how to analyse information and ask better questions.
In these 30-minute bite-size sessions, we will bring you up close with some of the world’s leading experts who will share their insights and tips with you on how to analyse numbers and data, read non-verbal behaviour and facial expression, and how to pay closer attention to words that seem innocuous.
This series is free of charge and restricted to ABSW members only; register now and get your chance to ask the experts your own questions. It has been devised by, and is hosted by, ABSW member Alex O'Brien.
Part 1 how to read numbers and understand data
Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter is Chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication in the University of Cambridge, which aims to improve the way that statistical evidence is used by health professionals, patients, lawyers and judges, media and policy-makers. He advises organisations and government agencies on risk communication and is a regular media commentator on statistical issues, with a particular focus on communicating uncertainty.
His background is in medical statistics, and he has over 200 refereed publications and is co-author of 6 textbooks, as well as The Norm Chronicles (with Michael Blastland), and Sex by Numbers. He works extensively with the media, and presented the BBC4 documentaries Tails you Win: the Science of Chance, the award-winning Climate Change by Numbers, and in 2011 came 7th in an episode of BBC1’s Winter Wipeout.
He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2005, and knighted in 2014 for services to medical statistics. He was President of the Royal Statistical Society for 2017-2018. His bestselling book, The Art of Statistics, was published in March 2019.