The Royal Statistical Society is a membership body promoting a world with data at the heart of understanding and decision making
UK
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We're not posting here so much anymore
For our latest updates find us on:
LinkedIn 💼 linkedin.com/company/royal-s…
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📣We've just launched a new guide for data visualisation
Covering the core principles & elements of #datavis - the structure of charts & tables and how they can be refined to aid readability.
Read it here ⬇️
rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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A-levels: Exam regulator ignored expert help after statisticians wouldn't sign non-disclosure agreements news.sky.com/story/a-levels-…
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We need to reject negative stereotypes around maths
The RSS, along with many of the UK’s leading mathematical sciences societies, is led by a woman and three of our four VPs are women
We are home to thousands of female members who all like ‘hard maths’
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📢Today we launch our memo to government on the ten statistical lessons they must learn from Covid-19
rss.org.uk/news-publication/… (a thread)
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Today is the bicentenary of our first female fellow, Florence Nightingale who joined the Society in 1858, following her return from the Crimean War. Here is her nomination form
#Nightingale2020
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The winner of our best stats commentary category for the 2023 Excellence in Journalism Awards, sponsored by @ESRC is @chrischirp of @ucl_coru and @uclmaps for her article ‘Physics: Do girls avoid it because it’s too hard?’ #RSSAwards
rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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Born on this day in 1820 - nurse and statistician, Florence Nightingale, who was also our first female fellow. Here is her Society nomination form #RSSFellow
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The winner of our 2022 Award for Statistical Excellence in Trustworthiness, Quality & Value, sponsored by @StatsRegulation and @CSWnews is the COVID-19 Dashboard Team at @UKHSA
Congratulations to all the team! #RSSAwards
rss.org.uk/Winner-of-statist…
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Today we release the findings of our survey of MPs, testing their statistical skills (a thread)
rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Sir David Cox. As well as his immense contributions to statistical research, he'll be remembered as a boundlessly generous and supportive friend to generations of statisticians.
rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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One of the four tests that the government set for proceeding with the roadmap out of lockdown is that “our assessment of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new Variants of Concern” (A thread)
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Fans of R take note - @rstudio chief scientist @hadleywickham is our first confirmed keynote speaker for the 2021 RSS Conference next September! @RSSAnnualConf rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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We asked a sample of MPs the same simple probability question we asked them ten years ago - if you toss a coin twice, what is the probability of getting two heads?
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We're thrilled to announce that the opening keynote speaker at the 2024 @RSSAnnualConf will be none other than the amazing @hadleywickham!
See you on 2 September in Brighton!
ow.ly/u3Lr50Q51J1
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Our winners in the ‘explaining the facts’ category for our 2022 Journalism Awards, sponsored by @ESRC, are @mroliverbarnes & @jburnmurdoch at the @FT
Congratulations both! #RSSAwards
rss.org.uk/Statistical-Excel…
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Have you read our guide for data visualisation? 📖
Now with a new section on Julia, it covers the core principles & elements of #datavis - the structure of charts & tables and how they can be refined to aid readability
Read it here ⬇️
royal-statistical-society.gi…
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We are delighted to announce the UK and International winners of our first ever Statistic of the Year, a new initiative that celebrates how statistics can help us better understand the world around us. #StatoftheYear statslife.org.uk/news/3675-s…
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We are delighted to announce that Prof. Christina Pagel (@chrischirp) will give the 2023 Campion (President’s Invited) Lecture at this September’s @RSSAnnualConf in Harrogate.
Read more: ow.ly/YX9S50PfWwz
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Congratulations and welcome to our 2024 Honorary Fellows! 🎉
@jburnmurdoch & @_HannahRitchie have done incredible things for improving public understanding through data & @AndrewYNg's research and teaching in AI has changed the world 📈🌎
rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of Professor C R Rao, a formidable name in modern statistics and one of our most longstanding fellows.
A full obituary will appear in our Series A journal in due course.
rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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Yesterday may have been “freedom day” but now is not the time to play fast and loose with statistics. As the public are being asked to rely more on their own judgement it is vital that the government’s use of statistics helps inform that. We have some recommendations (a thread)
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Huge congratulations to Professor Brad Efron, who wins the statistical equivalent of the Nobel Prize for creating the 'bootstrap' method, the 'best statistical pain reliever ever produced' statslife.org.uk/news/3982-2…
We are delighted to announce that the International Prize in Statistics is this year awarded to Stanford's Bradley Efron. The award will be presented at #ISIWSC2019 in Kuala Lumpur statprize.org/index.cfm @AmstatNews @RoyalStatSoc @IBSstats @InstMathStat @isiwsc2019 @intstat
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Announcing our pro bono scheme where we'll pair volunteer statisticians from our membership with charities looking to use data and stats to make better decisions. If you're interested in getting involved, get in touch! #charitytuesday statslife.org.uk/members-are…
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Understanding statistics is key to making sense of the world, but there's always a risk of misuse or misinterpretation
That's why we've created a guide to help you critically evaluate the figures you encounter as #GE24 approaches
Check it out here: rss.org.uk/RSS/media/File-li…
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Registartions are now open for our Intermediate statistics with Excel training course!
events.rss.org.uk/rss/265/ho…
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Our stats ambassadors have put together this great guide on understanding the statistics behind COVID-19
statslife.org.uk/features/44…
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We are very pleased to announce that @stianwestlake will be our new Chief Executive, starting in July. Here’s our announcement: rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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When government policy decisions have massive repercussions on people’s lives, we need to see more transparency, with the full evidence behind decisions published in a timely manner
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This time round, around half of respondents (52%) gave the correct answer of 🥁 25%
This is a likely improvement from when we polled MPs in 2011, when 40% of respondents gave the correct answer
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We call on the government to publish the framework for the decision and any evidence that fed into it as soon as possible, so people can be reassured that the data backs up the planned course of action
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The winner of this year’s Campion Award for Excellence in Official Statistics, supported by @UKStatsAuth & @CSWnews is @ONS for the Covid-19 Infection Survey
A massive well done to the team! #RSSAwards
rss.org.uk/Campion-award-202…
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It's 199 years today since our first female fellow, Florence Nightingale, was born. We'll be celebrating her bicentenary next year, focusing on the important work in statistics that she did. Read more about our plans here: statslife.org.uk/news/4141-f…
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Today is the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth
Florence revolutionised nursing through her investigative statistical work and striking use of data visualisation
She was also the first female fellow of the RSS, joining in 1858.
Here is her Society nomination form
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We’re aware of concerns raised by some RSS members and the wider statistical community around the statistical aspects of the Lucy Letby case
Read our full statement: rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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While the India variant has led to many concerned headlines, stage three of the roadmap has gone ahead today, without the clarity from the government to help people understand the situation
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Today the RSS has released its ten recommendations to improve the UK’s system of #genderpaygap reporting - read it here: rss.org.uk/Images/PDF/public…
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This year’s Guy Medal in Silver recipient is Håvard Rue. Read his citation and about the other winners in our news announcement at rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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We are pleased to announce Professor Jane Hutton as the winner of the 2023 Mardia Prize.
The prize was created to fund cutting-edge interdisciplinary workshops. Professor Hutton plans to hold a series of workshops on statistics and the law.
rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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In our Covid memo, the RSS has already urged government to publish evidence behind key decisions in a timely manner
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Our winner in the Statistical Excellence in Coronavirus Reporting category is @BBCMoreOrLess. A massive well done to the team! You can read about this year’s winning journalism entries here rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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Data should be used to inform not to persuade, and this means making data more accessible – we would like to see a central portal where all the different sources of official data can be found
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Government should be clear about how they are making that assessment and what information they are using – in the same way, that the basis for Tier decisions was made public last year
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The Barnett Award is awarded to Ruth King @BayesRuth of @EdinUniMaths who is internationally known for her work in statistical ecology, and for bringing to prominence in this field, the use of Bayesian statistics (3/7)
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Of the MPs surveyed, 16% gave the correct answer that there was not enough information to know
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We've just launched a #Covid19 Task Force to to channel our collective statistical expertise, led by our president elect @srichardson962 and past president @d_spiegel with many other leading experts in the steering group: rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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You can see our full list of statistical lessons that government should learn from the first year of the pandemic here 👉rss.org.uk/policy-campaigns/… (end of thread)
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The winner of the Bradford Hill Medal for contributions to medical statistics, is @bldestavola
Read the full citation and about the other #RSSHonours at rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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'P values, intervals and other statistical measures all have their place, but it’s time for statistical significance to go' - this comment piece in @nature has more than 850 signatories including our president @Deborah_Ashby and previous president @d_spiegel
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🎉🎉 Happy International Day of Women in Statistics and Data Science everyone 🎉🎉
Here's our CEO, Sarah Cumbers, on why now is a vital time to be celebrating and encouraging women in stats and data: ow.ly/X89X50PUyzm
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Over the coming weeks we will be highlighting those statisticians who have played a vital role in our response to the pandemic
First up, we have spoken to @thomas_jaki about his work on the RECOVERY trial and other platform studies
#VitalStats
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While we welcome Ofqual publishing its methodology for awarding A level and GCSE results today, earlier transparency would have allowed a proper discussion around how to deal fairly with these unique circumstances gov.uk/government/publicatio…
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A health emergency requires leaders to make decisions based on the data so they need to be confident in interpreting it, that’s why we are calling for more statistical training for politicians and officials
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We are proud to announce 2018's Statistics of the Year! Follow the hashtag #StatsoftheYear today to keep up to date with our winners and highly commended statslife.org.uk/news/4026-s…
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The winner in our best stats commentary category for our 2024 Journalism Awards sponsored by @ESRC is @Kit_Yates_Maths for his look into health screening programmes for @ConversationUK #RSSAwards
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We have seen an appalling number of Covid deaths in care homes and throughout the pandemic, there has been a lack of social care data. It needs to be a priority and must be included in any review of UK health data as a whole
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Happy 100th birthday to one of our most longstanding RSS honorary fellows and formidable name in modern statistics, CR Rao! #RSSFellow rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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The Government has said that a dashboard with vaccine stats will be available next week. This is good news – but the devil will be in the detail. A thread from our Covid-19 Task Force. (1) rss.org.uk/policy-campaigns/…
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Happy #InternationalWomensDay! To celebrate, here's special e-edition of @signmagazine articles celebrating women in statistics, including one exploring the extraordinary data visualisations by our first female fellow, Florence Nightingale onlinelibrary.wiley.com/jour…
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It's welcome that the government has started publishing more vaccine stats but given the importance of the vaccination programme, we need more & better data. Breakdown by region & age is by no means enough information to allow effective scrutiny. Here’s what else we'd like to see
Tomorrow we expect a more detailed breakdown of England’s vaccine data to be published. Here’s our checklist:
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Politicians sometimes use statistics in a way that isn't transparent or might mislead and should be held to account when they do, this is why we are calling for more funding for @StatsRegulation
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📢📢 The 2020 RSS Christmas Quiz is now live! How many of this year's brain-melting puzzles can you crack? The entry deadline is the 31 Jan 2021, and all scores of 50%+ win a charity donation! rss.org.uk/xmasquiz2020/
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Congratulations to this year's Guy Medal in Gold winner, Stephen Buckland, for his pioneering work in ecological statistics #RSShonours statslife.org.uk/news/4071-e…
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Our 'Statistics Are Vital' campaign highlights the crucial role that statisticians have played in our response to Covid.
For our third intervew we speak to @statsgeekclare - Head of the UK Covid-19 dashboard at the UK Health Security Agency.
#VitalStats
rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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KLAXON: We've just announced our #StatsoftheYear for 2019! Find out more at statslife.org.uk/news/4393-s…
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It is with great sadness that we heard of the death of #RSSFellow Doug Altman. We've made his lecture at our 2013 conference available to watch (linked to from this article). ow.ly/njYn30kmKEI
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Good government and effective media scrutiny go hand in hand so government should support media outlets that invest in specialist scientific and media reporting to help inform the public
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“Statistical skills are vital for good decision-making and effective scrutiny. While we’re pleased to see that it looks like MPs’ knowledge in this area has improved, the survey results highlight that more needs to be done..." says our CEO @stianwestlake
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Public health data is central to understanding a pandemic but currently, we have a system that is fragmented and neglected. That is why we call for a full review of UK health data
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Effective testing regimes are essential but currently, new tests don’t receive the same evaluation as drugs or vaccines – we need to see manufacturers release the data that backs their claims so it can be scrutinised
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The Guy Medal in Gold is awarded to Nancy Reid @reid_nancy for her pioneering work on higher-order approximate inference (6/7)
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We are celebrating today 🎉 after being awarded nearly £400k @TNLUK #NationalLottery funding to support our Statisticians for Society project. This will allow us to help more third sector organisations crunch their data to inform their decision making. statslife.org.uk/news/4403-s…
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As MHRA voices its concerns with lateral flow tests, we urgently call for more evidence on their suitability for mass testing, as reported in the @guardian
theguardian.com/world/2021/a…
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We also tested MPs knowledge of averages with around two-thirds able to correctly identify the mean and mode
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We're delighted to announce that Prof David Firth @firthcity is to be our next president, once Prof Sylvia Richardson's @srichardson962 term comes to a close at the end of 2022
rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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📢You can now register to attend the first of our Covid-19 evidence sessions - to discuss the important statistical issues of the pandemic ahead of the official inquires
This session is themed around communication and is organised by @StatsJen, @d_spiegel & @TomChivers (1/3)
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As well as welcoming our next President, Sylvia Richardson, in 2021, there are several other #RSSFellows joining RSS Council from 1st January. Read about the people who'll be guiding the Society's direction next year and beyond: rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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We are pleased to announce Katherine Whyte, Craig Anderson and Eleanor D’Arcy as our William Guy Lecturers for 2023-24. They will engage with schoolchildren across the UK to highlight the importance of stats in combating climate change. Find out more: ow.ly/L0vy50OTpkS
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We are delighted to announce that the RSS, in partnership with the Health Foundation, is launching the Florence Nightingale Award for Excellence in Healthcare Data Analytics. #healthstatsaward @HealthFdn statslife.org.uk/news/4363-r…
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The recipient of our Guy Medal in Bronze this year is Pierre E Jacob.
Read the full citation and about the other winners in our news announcement at rss.org.uk/news-publication/… #RSSHonours
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"...he realised that he could use statistics to improve peoples’ lives" obituary of #RSSFellow Harvey Goldstein in the @guardian
theguardian.com/society/2020…
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A fast-moving pandemic needs a fast-moving adaptive response so evaluation needs to be built into any intervention so we can learn what works and what doesn’t
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What is R? What can we tell from international comparisons? What's a 90% effective vaccine? Our Covid-19 Task Force has answered some of the most common questions around the stats. Take a look on our new Covid-19 FAQ page 👉rss.org.uk/policy-campaigns/…
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Good explainer of the p-values problem by @TomChivers - featuring comment by our president @d_spiegel buzzfeed.com/tomchivers/sign…
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Our 'Statistics Are Vital' campaign looks to highlight the crucial role statisticians have played in our response to Covid
For our second interview we speak to @SarahCaul_ONS who was awarded an MBE for her work on mortality statistics
#VitalStats
rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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'It is only a shame that it has taken so many weeks for concerns raised by the Royal Statistical Society and others to be addressed, with many children unnecessarily missing school as a result.' Co-chair of our WG on testing, @deeksj in the @Independent
independent.co.uk/news/scien…
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Major policy decisions continue to be announced, supposedly informed by data, but with no evidence published – most recently the decision to place France on the amber-plus list, affecting the plans of millions. We expect that evidence to be published as a matter of urgency
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Congratulations to our new Council members for 2023
Donald Simeon
Altea Lorenzo-Arribas @Altea_Lorenzo
Theodore Kypraios @tkypraios
Phillippa Spencer @sublimepoison
Sarah Nevitt @sjn_16
Emily Granger @EGranger90
rss.org.uk/news-publication/…
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The winner in the ‘explaining the facts’ category for 2021 is the @ftdata team for their excellent article, ‘Covid-19: The global crisis in data’.
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Congratulations to our newly selected William Guy Lecturers! ✨
@Mary_Gregory1, @nrennie35 and Mike Campbell will be picking up the mantle of inspiring school children about stats and data 👩🎓
We can't wait to see their finished talks in August!
ow.ly/p3Ro50SfozZ
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We are running our popular Longitudinal and missing data course again.events.rss.org.uk/rss/46/hom…
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Great to see our president @d_spiegel talking about importance of Thomas Bayes and Ronald Fisher in his #PeopleOfScience episode statslife.org.uk/news/3693-d…
Journey through the history of science & the people that shaped it. Our new six-part #PeopleOfScience series with @ProfBrianCox & guests. Available to watch now on @BBCiPlayer ow.ly/5ksD30hI0GC
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And a massive well done goes to our winner in the explaining the facts category who is @TomChivers for ‘Do we really have a ‘suicidal generation’?’ @unherd
unherd.com/2019/02/do-we-rea…
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