Stats + Stories

How do you learn about what's going on in the world? Did a news headline grab your attention? Did a news story report on recent research? What do you need to know to be a critical consumer of the news you read? If you are looking to start developing your data self-defense and critical news consumption skills, this book is for you! It reflects a long-term collaboration between a statistician and a journalist to shed light on the statistics behind the stories and the stories behind the statistics. The only prerequisite for enjoying this book is an interest in developing the skills and insights for better understanding news stories that incorporate quantitative information

While Edgar Alan Poe reported that the raven quoth, “nevermore,” crows may respond with, “more likely” when forced to choose between two options. That’s according to our guest on this episode of Stats+Stories Dr. Melissa Johnston

Dr. Melissa Johnston is a neurobiologist from New Zealand who investigates complex cognition in birds. Following the completion of her PhD at the University of Otago, Dr. Johnston was awarded a Humboldt Research Fellowship to continue her research in Germany at the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen. Her research focuses on the interplay between the brain and behaviours such as working memory, timing, and probabilistic reasoning in a range of avian species, including pigeons, jackdaws, and carrion crows.

After producing hundreds of episodes we have lots of data lying around. Data we made available to you, asking you to crunch the numbers for a contest that told the story of our podcast. The winner of that contest Nicole Mark joins us today on Stats+Stories.

Nicole Mark is a visual learner and communicator who found her passion in the field of data visualization. She started out making maps of imaginary worlds and cataloging her volumes of The Baby-Sitters Club on her family's original Apple Macintosh. Now, she analyzes and visualizes data in Tableau and with code, always on a Mac! She writes about dataviz, life with ADHD, and the modern workplace in her blog, SELECT * FROM data. Nicole co-leads Women in Dataviz and the Healthcare Tableau User Group. She’s working on her master’s in data science at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Brazil’s 2022 census shows its population is well over 203 million people with the most populace states in the southern part of the country. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics is responsible for the nation's census, as well as the gathering of other official statistics. Today three members of IBGE are joining us for this episode of Stats+Stories.

Bianca Walsh is a technical assistant for the Director of the National School of Statistical Sciences (ENCE) at IBGE. She is currently the co-lead of the Statistical Literacy task team of the Global Network of Institutes for Statistical Training (GIST), and has been an active member of the Training, Competencies and Capacity Development task team for the UN Big Data Project since 2021. She is also member of the technical board of the Regional Hub of Big Data in Brazil, specifically conceiving and promoting capacity-building events in the area.

Ana Laura Azevedo is a Journalist with experience in social media management, video scripting and management, data journalism, press relations and internal communications. Currently, she is an analyst at the IBGE's Center for Information Documentation and Dissemination (CDDI), in the area of Journalism / Social Networks.

Agláia Tavares is a Journalist with experience in social media management, data journalism, press relations and internal communications, and children’s books. Currently, she is the manager of Content and Promotion Management (GECOP) at IBGE's Center for Information Documentation and Dissemination (CDDI) since 2022.

The history of statistics is filled with interesting facts about the development of the field and stories of the people who helped shape it. A new column at CHANCE magazine will explore the history of stats which is the focus of this episode of Stats+Stories with guest Chiatra Nagaraja

Chaitra Nagaraja is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter. Her research interests are primarily in measurement, particularly macroeconomic and socioeconomic indicators, time series, and the history of statistics. Prior to joining Exeter, she was a faculty member at the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University in New York City where she wrote the 2019 book Measuring Society and a research mathematical statistician at the U.S Census Bureau, focusing on the American Community Survey. The book is a history of US official statistics like unemployment, inflation, and poverty. In addition to her university research and teaching, she is the chair of the American Statistical Association’s Scientific and Public Affairs Advisory Committee, a member of the Royal Statistical Society’s History of Statistics Section, and the book review editor for the International Statistical Review. She also recently accepted a co-editorship position for the new history of statistics column in CHANCE magazine.

This contest is a call for lesson plans that make use of the Stats + Stories podcasts. The lesson plan should include the appropriate materials needed by both students and teachers.

As examples, a good lesson plan might include: instructions for the students to carry out the activity, instructor tips, learning objectives, time to complete the activity, resources needed to complete the activity, recommended course, recommendation for in-class or out-of-class use for the activity, and skills required.

The lesson plan should be accompanied by a grading rubric for any assessment.

Lesson plans should be submitted by January 1, 2024.

Along with cash prizes totaling $1000, the top winners will present their activity in a panel during eCOTS 2024 from May 28th to May 31st and have them posted on CAUSEweb.org and statsandstories.net.

The lesson plans will be judged by a panel of educators.

Contest judging rubric

Each of the following will be evaluated on a four-point scale and averaged across judges:

1. Alignment to theme of eCOTS 2024 “What’s Next? Moving Forward” or the track - Past, Present, and Future of Statistics/Data Science.

2. Alignment with the GAISE guidelines.

3. Activity links to clear learning objective(s).

4. Activity is innovative in its approach.

5. Aligns with research-based practices.

6. Instructions are clear and easy to follow.

7. Activity is appropriately challenging for audience.

8. Engaging and interesting topic for students.

Supplemental resources and adaptability will be used to break ties.

A number of organizations in the United States focus on statistics education, and now you can add the U.S. Congress to the list. A bill introduced in the house earlier this year seeks to help support and improve stats education for both Pre-K through 12, as well as higher education. It is also the focus of this episode of stats and stories with guests Donna LaLonde and Steve Pierson.

Donna LaLonde is the Associate Executive Director of the American Statistical Association (ASA) where she works with talented colleagues to advance the vision and mission of the ASA. Prior to joining the ASA in 2015, she was a faculty member at Washburn University where she enjoyed teaching and learning with colleagues and students; she also served in various administrative positions including interim chair of the Education Department and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs. At the ASA, she supports activities associated with presidential initiatives, accreditation, education, and professional development. She also is a cohost of the Practical Significance podcast which we appeared on in May.

Steve Pierson is the Director of Science Policy for the American Statistics Association. In his role, he works to raise the profile of statistics (the scientific discipline), government statistics, and statisticians nationally. He also advocates on behalf of ASA members and for more engagement of statistics/statisticians and the need to invest in our data infrastructure, as it powers the economy and improves our health and wellbeing.

Women’s World Cup action in Austrailia and New Zealand has wrapped up and Spain’s been crowned the champion. After players and fans headed home, residents were left to clean up after them. Hosts of such tournaments are also left to tackle the human rights implications of hosting an event that massive. The human rights impacts of something like the World Cup are incredibly hard to measure and that is the focus of this episode of Stats+Stories with guest Dr. Megan Price.

Dr. Megan Price is the Executive Director of the Human Rights Data Analysis Group, Price designs strategies and methods for statistical analysis of human rights data for projects in a variety of locations including Guatemala, Colombia, and Syria. Her work in Guatemala includes serving as the lead statistician on a project in which she analyzed documents from the National Police Archive; she has also contributed analyses submitted as evidence in two court cases in Guatemala. Her work in Syria includes serving as the lead statistician and author on three reports, commissioned by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR), on documented deaths in that country.

How do you learn about what's going on in the world? Did a news headline grab your attention? Did a news story report on recent research? What do you need to know to be a critical consumer of the news you read? If you are looking to start developing your data self-defense and critical news consumption skills, this book is for you! It reflects a long-term collaboration between a statistician and a journalist to shed light on the statistics behind the stories and the stories behind the statistics. The only prerequisite for enjoying this book is an interest in developing the skills and insights for better understanding news stories that incorporate quantitative information.

Matthew Shearing is a private sector consultant working globally in partnership with the public, private and not-for-profit sectors on improving official statistics and other data systems, Monitoring and Evaluation, and embedding official statistics standards in wider international development.

David Stern is a Mathematical Scientist and Educator. He is a former lecturer in the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Sciences at Maseno University in Kenya and a founding board member of African Maths Initiative (AMI).