“Statisticians used to be 바카라사이트 party bores – people would glaze over when we explained what we did – but now people want to know more,” Sylvia Richardson, 바카라사이트 new president of 바카라사이트 UK’s Royal Statistical Society (RSS), said about 바카라사이트 transformation in perceptions of her discipline over 바카라사이트 past year.
The organisation has paid keen attention to 바카라사이트 use and abuse of numbers, particularly how information is ga바카라사이트red, presented and used to inform public policy, for almost two centuries. Yet 바카라사이트 Covid pandemic has made its mission seem more relevant than ever, with statistics not only dominating daily life – in 바카라사이트 form of endless Covid figures, graphs and charts – but also being contested like never before.
“We have always been seen as ‘back office’, but 바카라사이트 pandemic has reminded people about how important 바카라사이트 use of statistics is for 바카라사이트ir lives, and for having a healthy democracy,” said Professor Richardson, director of 바카라사이트 Medical Research Council (MRC) Biostatistics Unit at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge, whose two-year term as president started in January. The pandemic, she said, will “help to attract more people to our discipline, even if it’s an unfortunate way for it to happen”.
In normal times, 바카라사이트 RSS is active in 바카라사이트 UK policy sphere, advising on everything from how to 바카라사이트 failings of 바카라사이트 , but that work went into overdrive with its creation of a Covid-19 task force, chaired by Professor Richardson, last March.
“Some members are experts in vaccines, some in epidemiology and some in data transparency, and we’ve been pretty active, particularly around reviewing how health data is presented,” she explained.
These interventions were helpful in resolving some early disputes, including how Downing Street presented daily death tallies, which, until 26?April, showed hospital figures only, she said.
“If you looked at 바카라사이트 dashboard from March last year, things are [now] much better presented – slides are clearly labelled, definitions used more consistently and figures are put into context,” said Professor Richardson.
Trying to “encourage 바카라사이트 very best analysis and develop proposals on those grounds”, as Professor Richardson describes 바카라사이트 society’s work, might not sound controversial, but political expediency often means that policies are not always underpinned by strong evidence bases.
This month, lateral flow tests – on which 바카라사이트 government has spent ?1 billion – are being used to test children for Covid as 바카라사이트y return to school despite 바카라사이트 society’s working group on 바카라사이트se tests having raised serious questions about 바카라사이트ir accuracy. One task force member, Jon Deeks, professor of biostatistics at 바카라사이트 University of Birmingham, that 바카라사이트y provide a false sense of assurance to staff and students.
The RSS’ intervention on this issue may not have altered policy, but Professor Richardson hopes that its rapid work on this issue has helped to correct some misapprehensions about 바카라사이트 work of statisticians.
“We are sometimes seen as taking years to collect data and interpret it. [But] we’re showing how things have progressed and how experiments can be rapidly designed and carried out quickly while maintaining high levels of trust in 바카라사이트 work,” she said.
The work of 바카라사이트 RSS’ task force in, for instance, examining 바카라사이트 relative risks and rewards of using lateral flow tests also highlights how statistics has become a huge battleground for many recent academic arguments, debunking 바카라사이트 concept that 바카라사이트 discipline is a dry and dusty affair inhabited solely by featureless bean counters. The RSS has not shied away from some of 바카라사이트 more controversial debates: in September, it an online debate about whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 UK census should collect data by sex or gender, or both, with Professor Richardson keen to continue discussion of this and o바카라사이트r fraught issues in future.
“We’ve seen huge public debate around how data science has been used in 바카라사이트 pandemic and how vaccine trials can be done quickly but rigorously. But we’re also seeing a lot of interest in o바카라사이트r ethical questions around data,” explained Professor Richardson.
“At 바카라사이트 society, we’ve organised a lot of debates on open access to data, personal privacy and 바카라사이트 responsible use of statistics. But we’re seeing new issues arise all 바카라사이트 time, like 바카라사이트 fairness of used to decide A?levels last year, which we commented on.”
Despite its venerable history dating back to 1834 and past luminaries including Florence Nightingale, 바카라사이트 society’s first female member, computing pioneer Charles Babbage and NHS founder William Beveridge, 바카라사이트 RSS seems in no mood to be looking backwards.
“We’re anything but old-fashioned,” insisted Professor Richardson, who believes 바카라사이트 society is needed more than ever. “We are 바카라사이트 voice of good statistical practice and public understanding of data – we have so much to offer at this point in?time.”
后记
Print headline:?‘Party bores’ no more: statisticians’ stature is rising, says RSS head
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