Statistically Insignificant

How many fish are there in the sea? With fish researcher Jesse Black we investigate methods to estimate fish population sizes in the inky depths. Support the pod on Patreon for bonus episodes, early access, and additional material: https://www.patreon.com/statisticallyinsignificant Jesse can be found at https://twitter.com/JesseBlackSci References: Adamczyk, A. (2022) 'A record 68% of American hou...

This is a remastered version of the main part of our first episode which goes through how contraceptive effectiveness is measured and compares the short- and long-term effectiveness of some different methods. The video version of this episode is at: https://youtu.be/IzOUygCLJxY Support the pod on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/statisticallyinsignificant References: Polis, C. B., Bradley, S. E.,...

We have an extended chat with Daniel and David from the Australian Unemployed Workers Union about a new rating system they have built to give a voice to people in the Australian welfare state. Check out the AUWU at https://www.auwu.org.au/ The ROAR app can be found at https://www.auwu.org.au/roar-app Support the pod on Patreon for bonus episodes, early access, and additional material: https://www....

We talk to Josie Spicer of A Hill To Die On podcast about the risk of pregnancy complications and adverse events as an example of medical risk. How do we quantify it, how do we compare it across different populations, and why second opinions are really important. Josie can be found at: https://www.ahilltodieonpod.com/ Twitter: @jsspcr1 Support the pod on Patreon for bonus episodes, early access, a...

We talk to Sarah of It Came From The Sea pod about how much plastic is in the oceans, how you estimate it, and the vast mystery that is between about 20m and the bottom of the sea. You can find Sarah at: @fromtheseapod on Twitter https://www.patreon.com/fromtheseapod or anywhere that pods are cast. Support the pod on Patreon for bonus episodes, early access, and additional material: https://www.pa...

We are visited by ex-academic Joh, to talk about the working conditions for teaching staff at universities and why your subjects may be shit. The mailbag chart was found on Twitter: https://twitter.com/antihobbes/status/1510931501533212680 Support the pod on Patreon for bonus episodes, early access, and additional material: https://www.patreon.com/statisticallyinsignificant The video version of th...

Mathematicians treat chaotic and random systems as different things. We talk through what each of those mean, how they relate to each other, and how you can use a combination of the two to model the chaotic real world. References: Pierce, J. (2011) 'Bifurcation diagram for the logistic map', CC0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16445229, accessed 19th Dec 2021, https://en.wikipedia....

To help people in the current NSW floods please donate to: Lismore Council: https://lismore.nsw.gov.au/flood-2022-information Local SES: https://www.ses.nsw.gov.au/get-involved/donations/ Pick a unit in a flood affected area, a list can be found under AGRN 1012 here: https://www.nsw.gov.au/disaster-recovery/natural-disaster-declarations In light of the ongoing flooding on the east coast of Austral...

We talk about the consumer price index and the wage price index, how the CPI is used to measure inflation, and why these metrics are particularly bad for reflecting the experience of the very poor. Support the pod on Patreon for bonus episodes, early access, and additional material: https://www.patreon.com/statisticallyinsignificant References Australian Bureau of Statistics (2018) '6461.0 - Consu...

We talk to host of Boonta Vista (and electrical engineer) Theo about the Australian energy grid. You can find Theo's other exploits at https://boontavista.com/ and https://twitter.com/aynrandy Support the pod on Patreon for bonus episodes, early access, and additional material: https://www.patreon.com/statisticallyinsignificant The video version of this episde is at: https://youtu.be/vPiIWJCQqoE I...

Our second episode about p-values and their misuse in research. In this episode we explore the manipulation of data to produce statistically significant results, and the material conditions which would lead someone to do that. Support the pod on Patreon for bonus episodes, early access, and additional material: https://www.patreon.com/statisticallyinsignificant References: Back, M. D. (2018). Cont...

Part 1 of our two-part series on the infamous p-values. In this episode we go through what p-values are and are not, in the context of a hypothesis test. Support the pod on Patreon for bonus episodes, early access, and additional material: https://www.patreon.com/statisticallyinsignificant The video version of this episode is at https://youtu.be/pvLq-skzl6I If you have a statistic or a chart you'd...

As a follow on from E9: Fight Statistics we talk to Anders Russell about the scoring system for MMA fights. We consider how the 10 point system was adopted from boxing, the shortcomings that brought with it, and adaptations which have improved its use in a far more complex environment. Anders can be found on Twitter: @weemadando Support the pod on Patreon for bonus episodes, early access, and addi...

We investigate COVID tests as an example of hypothesis testing, talk about the ways that tests go wrong, and look at the implications for people in the pandemic. In the mailbag segment we talk about the comparative risk of lower hospitalistion rate versus a more infectious strain. Support the pod on Patreon for bonus episodes, early access, and additional material: https://www.patreon.com/statisti...

When does a punch count, and why is a knock out possibly the only well defined way to score a boxing match? We talk to Shane Greenwood of Combat Chat podcast and Double Dragon gym about how fights and fighters get measured, and whether some of the stats constructed around them are valid at all. Our mailbag is a listener question about summary statistics. Shane can be found at: Double Dragon gym ht...

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 materi...

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 R...

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...

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 Statistic...

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., Abba...

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)...

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://ww...

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...