What is stats for anyway? We talk about three main things that stats is intended for, and how different philosophical approaches to statistics can change some of that. We also discuss how outdated population data affects vaccination numbers and the impact that can have on people in some areas in the mailbag segment.

Support the pod on Patreon for bonus episodes, early access, and additional material: https://www.patreon.com/statisticallyinsignificant

References:

Fowler, M. (2021) 'Melbourne city residents face travel restrictions due to outdated data', The Age, Nov 2. Accessed Nov. 3 2021, https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/melbourne-city-residents-face-travel-restriction-due-to-outdated-data-20211101-p594y8.html

The video version of this episode is at https://youtu.be/fVTlfeewbpg

If you have a statistic or a chart you'd like us to talk about contact us.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @StatInsigPod

We talk about what it really means to have a biased sample, how this is different to other types of measure, and what that means for a few examples. We look at a classic case study from military history, health research, and a breathtakingly transphobic survey.

Support the pod on Patreon for bonus episodes, early access, and additional material: https://www.patreon.com/statisticallyinsignificant

References:

M. Grandjean, McGeddon, & Moll (2021, 2016, 2005 respectively) 'Survivorship-Bias.svg' - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=102017718

Sedghi, S. (2021) 'Stroke is a leading cause of death, but treatment trials often don't include enough women', ABC News, 23rd Oct. Accessed 25th Oct 2021, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-23/lack-of-women-in-clinical-trials-impacts-stroke-treatment/100559514.

Adult Business News (2017) 'Lily Cade Apologizes Amid Sexual Assault Allegations', The Real P**n WikiLeaks, 24th Nov. Accessed 26th Oct 2021 [No link because YouTube will censor the video]

Wild, A.C. (2019) 'Lesbians at Ground Zero: How transgenderism is conquering the lesbian body', published by Get The L Out. Accessed 23rd Oct 2021, https://www.gettheloutuk.com/blog/category/research/lesbians-at-ground-zero.html

Lowbridge, C. (2021) 'We're being pressured into sex by some trans women', BBC News, 26th Oct, updated 4th Nov 2021. Accessed 26th Oct 2021 and 6th Nov 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-57853385.

The video version of the episode: https://youtu.be/4PplD_JZ2Sg

If you have a statistic or a chart you'd like us to talk about contact us.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @StatInsigPod

How do we get from a measurement on an individual to a description of the whole population? How appropriate is it to use that population-level value to describe an individual? Who is the most average person in Australia?

In this episode we look at summary statistics. You probably met some in highschool so you can relive that thrilling experience with a voice over. We also look at a very silly pie chart from The Australian.

Support the pod on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/statisticallyinsignificant

References:

Triple J (2016) 'When we found the most average Australian', accessed 10th Oct. 2021. https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/media/s4515416.htm

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2019) 'Household Income and Wealth, Australia', accessed 16th Oct. 2021. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/finance/household-income-and-wealth-australia/2017-18

[Now deleted] The Australian (2021) 'Who would make a better prime minister - pie chart', 3rd Oct, 2021. https://twitter.com/australian/status/1444612995355611142

The video version of this episode is at https://youtu.be/MYHLXbZWT-o

If you have a statistic or a chart you'd like us to talk about contact us.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @StatInsigPod

What does it actually mean to be unemployed? Who determines if a landlord is a real job? We investigate the current state of labour statistics in Australia as well as some of the history of them in connection with the labour movements.

Support the pod on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/statisticallyinsignificant

References:

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2018). '6102.0.55.001 - Labour Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods', updated 26th May 2020. Accessed 3rd October 2021, https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/by%20Subject/6102.0.55.001~Feb%202018~Main%20Features~Overview%20of%20Labour%20Statistics~1.

19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (2013) 'Resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization'. Accessed 3rd October 2021, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---stat/documents/normativeinstrument/wcms_230304.pdf.

13th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (1982) 'Resolution concerning statistics of the economically active population, employment, unemployment and underemployment'. Accessed 3rd October 2021, https://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/download/res/ecacpop.pdf.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021) 'Labour Force, Australia methodology', released 16th September 2021. Accessed 3rd October 2021, https://www.abs.gov.au/methodologies/labour-force-australia-methodology/aug-2021.

Hutchens, G (2021) 'We should thank the unemployed for their service. They've been used to control inflation', ABC News, 4th July. Accessed 1st October 2021, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-04/the-unemployed-have-been-used-to-control-inflation/100259072

Janda, M. and Pupazzoni, R. (2021) 'Unemployment rate dropped early in lockdown as people gave up looking for work, data reveals', ABC News, 19th August. Accessed 1st October 2021, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-19/unemployment-jobs-covid-lockdowns-abs-july-2021/100389960

The version with slides is available at: https://youtu.be/XS704Lq0M68

If you have a statistic or a chart you'd like us to talk about contact us.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @StatInsigPod

We do a deep and masochistic dive into the Bloomberg Media's COVID resilience statistic and ask why did they choose to include things like commercial landlord profitibility. Our mailbag is a look into how the New York Times bestseller list chooses books and why Australians have little hope of getting on there.

References:

Lozano, R., Fullman, N., Mumford, J. E., Knight, M., Barthelemy, C. M., Abbafati, C., ... & Cárdenas, R. (2020). Measuring universal health coverage based on an index of effective coverage of health services in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The Lancet, 396(10258), 1250-1284.

Chang, R., Varley, K., Munoz, M., Tam, F., and Makol, M.K. (2021 August). 'The Covid Resilience Ranking: The Best and Worst Places to Be as Delta Wrecks Reopening Plans', Bloomberg. Accessed 18th September 2021, https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-resilience-ranking/.

Chang, R. (2020 November, updated 2021 July). 'Methodology: Inside Bloomberg's Covid Resilience Ranking', Bloomberg. Accessed 1st August 2021, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-24/inside-bloomberg-s-covid-resilience-ranking.

Philip, S.V. and Odeh, L. (2021 June) 'Where Can You Fly Right Now? Germans Roll Out Their Beach Towels', Bloomberg. Accessed 18th September 2021, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-18/where-can-you-fly-right-now-europe-can-travel-again-britons-are-stuck-at-home.

Callen, T. (2020 February) 'Gross Domestic Product: An Economy's All', International Monetary Fund. Accessed 18th September 2021, https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/basics/gdp.htm.

United Nations Development Programme. (2021). Human Development Report 2020: The Next Frontier-human Development and the Anthropocene. UN.

The video version of this episode is available at https://youtu.be/7OKTuM79lUc

If you have a statistic or a chart you'd like us to talk about contact us.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @StatInsigPod

An investigation of who gets counted, and in what fashion, through case studies of the census. Shockingly, we discover that the census is and always has been a political instrument, particularly in its relationship to marginalised groups such as people with diverse genders and sexualities, or native populations under settler-colonial governments.

References:

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2018) '2007.0 - Census of Population and Housing: Consultation on Topics, 2021', published 3rd April. Accessed 11th August 2021, https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/by%20Subject/2007.0~2021~Main%20Features~Preface~1

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2020) '2021 Census topics and data release plan', published 15th November. Accessed 10th August 2021, https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/research/2021-census-topics-and-data-release-plan.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021) '2021 Census of Population and Housing'.

Cohn, D. (2018) 'What to know about the citizenship question the Census Bureau is planning to ask in 2020', Pew Research Centre, published 30th March. Accessed 5th August 2021, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/30/what-to-know-about-the-citizenship-question-the-census-bureau-is-planning-to-ask-in-2020/.

Karp, P. (2019) 'Liberal MP calls for sexuality questions in census after ABS dumped them on minister’s guidance', The Guardian, published 23th October. Accessed 1st August 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/24/abs-dumped-census-test-forms-with-new-sexuality-questions-after-input-from-ministers-office.

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (n.d.) 'The 1967 Referendum'. Accessed 1st August 2021, https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/1967-referendum.

A video version of the episode is available:

https://youtu.be/qx9dglBmD7k

If you have a statistic or a chart you'd like us to talk about contact us.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @StatInsigPod

A slightly morbid episode about mortality and life expectancy. We dig into how life expectancy is calculated, why you probably wouldn't be dead at 45 in a Medieval society, then talk about a way of considering the lethality of the COVID pandemic which doesn't just include people who were infected by the virus.

Sources:

UN Stats https://unstats.un.org/home/

ABS data for Aboriginal people https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-peoples/life-tables-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-australians/2015-2017#life-tables

Indigenous child mortality https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/children-youth/australias-children/contents/indigenous-children

Indigenous maternal mortality https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mothers-babies/maternal-deaths-in-australia-2016/contents/report

ABS Excess Deaths https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/measuring-excess-mortality-australia-during-covid-19-pandemic

CDC Excess Deaths https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm

Our World In Data Excess Deaths https://ourworldindata.org/excess-mortality-covid

For the video version of episode go to https://youtu.be/iPO7_bQaV4I

To send us a statistic you can email us at: [email protected]

or drop us a line on Twitter: https://twitter.com/StatInsigPod

Audio-only version of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8T1M61bwM0

How effective are contraceptives? What does effectiveness of contraceptives even mean, particularly for people who use them for a long time? In this first episode of Statistically Insignificant - a "podcast" about statistics and everyday life - we explore these questions. We also talk about how vaccine effectiveness is not measured the same way.

References: Polis, C. B., Bradley, S. E., Bankole, A., Onda, T., Croft, T., & Singh, S. (2016). Typical-use contraceptive failure rates in 43 countries with Demographic and Health Survey data: summary of a detailed report. Contraception, 94(1), 11-17.

Trussell, J. (2011). Contraceptive failure in the United States. Contraception, 83(5), 397-404.

Ask us about a statistic:

Email: [email protected]

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