Stats + Stories

Meteorologists go to school to be able to predict the weather accurately, but for some people, weather prediction is a hobby. Maybe they have a trick knee that hurts when it rains or perhaps they know when a storm is coming by how the birds at their feeders are behaving. Some lucky folks have pets that can help them figure out what the weather is going to do and that’s the focus of this episode of...

The utility of standardized testing is under debate in the US with opponents of their use in K-12 suggesting educators are now being forced to teach to tests. In higher education, there's been a push to abandon the use of standardized tests in admissions processes. But if we throw out standardized tests completely, are we throwing away a tool that still has some value? That's a question framing th...

Data Journalism is a hot topic in the news business. Reporters working in diverse media and diverse markets are increasingly being asked to work with data. What exactly makes for good data journalism and what does a reporter need to understand to use data well. Those are a few of the questions discussed on The Data Journalism Podcast and that is the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with...

Impacting statistical and data science communites is aspiration that many of us share. Outlets for such impact include work environments where we may collaborate with interdisciplinary teams. Other newer outlets are podcasting in a variety of publishing platforms. Today we will explore the origin story of such a contributor with guest Roger Peng. Roger D. Peng (@rdpeng) is a Professor of Biostatis...

Impacting the statistical data science communities has an aspiration many of us share. Outlets for such impact include work environments where we may collaborate with interdisciplinary teams as well as other newer outlets such as podcasting and a variety of publishing platforms. Today we will explore the origin story of such a contributor in Hilary Parker. Hilary Parker (@hspter) is a Data Scienti...

Since the 1990’s people have been trying to figure out who’s the best friend. Is it Chandler because of his dry wit? Phoebe because of her unabashed enthusiasm? Joey because his loyalty? Well, leave it to statistics to give us a firm answer. Who’s the best friend from the show Friends is the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Mathias Basner Mathias Basner is a professor in the D...

From Florence Nightingale to David Cox we hear at Stats and Stories love tales of the careers of statisticians who made an impact on the world. Yes, friends in nursing, we claim Florence as part of statistics too. While those two pioneers are no longer with us, Jana Asher is here with us today in this episode of Stats and Short Stories. Jana Asher is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Stati...

Dr. Dennis Pearl is a Professor of Statistics at Pennsylvania State University and Director of the Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education (CAUSE). Dr. Pearl's education work centers on building a national infrastructure to support instructors of statistics, developing resources for instructors in both statistics and probability education, and developing and testing ne...

Gambling is often tricky topic. It got Pete Rose kicked out of baseball, and more recently, made news when Michigan State University announced a betting partnership with Ceasers entertainment. As with everything new media and big data have only complicated the conversations around games of skill vs. games of chance. That’s the focus of this episode of Stats+Stories with guest Dr. Mike Orkin. Dr. M...

The Gilded Age in the U.S. is perhaps best known for the great men who rose to prominence at the time. Men such as John D. Rockefeller and JP Morgan, who made money hand over fist. One of those men Andrew Carnegie was not only a shrewd businessman, he was also a shrewd statistician of sorts. His legacy is the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Christopher Tong. How you got inter...

On a recent episode of Stats+Stories, Timandra Harkness talked with us about the rise of today’s data economy. On today’s episode of Stats and Short Stories we want to shift the focus to the future of that data economy and how advancing technologies like the metaverse will play in. Harkness writes and presents BBC Radio 4 documentaries including the series FutureProofing and How To Disagree, and A...

An entire industry has grown up around nutrition and health. People pushing everything from shakes, to meal kits, to special diets. While some of the claims surrounding such products can be questionable at best, the field of nutrition science is growing. Filled with researchers who are working to truly understand the science of food that is a focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest M...

Do you remember the first time you saw a prompt in social media asking about a product you were searching for on some other online platform? How about the first time you received coupons sent from your local grocery that incentivized buying your favorite consumable items? Today’s episode of Stats+Stories focuses on the origin, expansion and future of the data economy with guest Timandra Harkness a...

Our lives are increasingly shaped by statistics and data. However, they remain concepts that can be difficult for broad audiences to understand. A number of outlets, including this one, have sprung up to help make them more accessible. Today another one, the “Not So Standard Deviations” podcast is the focus of this episode of Stats+Stories with guests Hilary Parker and Roger D. Peng. Hilary Parker...

When we talk about human rights we often focus on qualitative narratives; the tales of struggles faced by refugees, of rights denied to individuals during war, of the fight for clean food and water, but undergirding all those stories are statistics. Statistics that allow us to gain insight into the scope of a human rights issue, or the size of a population living through particular human rights ab...

There's so much data out there about COVID-19 it can be hard to make sense of it all. Over the last year, a couple of statisticians have been working to help the readers of the Guardian, get a handle on the numbers. Dr. Anthony Masters and Sir David John Spiegelhalter have a new book out based on their weekly blog titled COVID by the Numbers, which is the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories...

The information age has been rife with more misinformation than any other time in human history. With the dissemination and spread of fakes news is at an all-time high, can people be trained to spot and pre-bunk misinformation and fake news. That’s what we’re here to learn about on today’s episode of Stats and Short Stories with guest Sander van der Linden. Sander van der Linden is Professor of So...

Social media are complicated. With some research suggesting they're important spaces for digital community building and other scholars pointing out how social media can serve to actually disconnect people from one another. A growing concern among both academics in the public is the ways in which misinformation and conspiracies move through social media networks. That is the focus of this episode o...

There's a lot of conversation happening about the ethical uses of data and statistics how much weight should we put on numbers at all? How thoroughly should we investigate the methodologies used to create them? And who has access to the data? A special issue of chance focuses on statistics and data science for good and that is the topic of this episode of Stats and Stories with guests Caitlin Augu...

The costumes are ready and the annual opportunity to go out and harass your neighbors to get candy is once again upon us. Yes, it's time for Halloween. And along with Halloween comes the worry, the concern the fear that in fact, someone will be poisoning my kid’s candy. This is something that has lived with us for decades and we have someone today that will help us investigate this mystery on this...

With the ubiquity of technology in our lives have come concerns over privacy, security, and surveillance. These are particularly potent in relation to what's come to be called Big Data. Navigating the complicated terrain is a constant conversation in some sectors of the tech industry, as well as academia. And it's the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with Christoph Kurz. Kurtz is a postd...

The issue of income inequality is one Americans continually wrestle with the COVID 19 pandemic bringing to light how housing, health, and general wellbeing are impacted by the unequal distribution of wealth. Income inequality in the United States is the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Joseph Gastwirth. Dr. Gastwirth is a Professor of Statistics and Economics at George Washing...

The health of the world's oceans is a growing concern but measuring ocean health is a complicated undertaking. Some people studying the issue focus on pollution, while others look at the health of corals or marine mammals. One project attempts to take a comprehensive picture of the health of oceans in order to provide information about Oceanic vital signs to stakeholders. The Ocean Health Index is...

The COVID pandemic put many Sports on hold during 2020, but with the industry roaring back with the 2021 Summer Olympics as well as World Cup qualifier matches sports, and sports statistics, are back. Which is the perfect timing for the unveiling of the Royal Statistical Society's 2021 Sports Statistic of the Year. Robert Mastrodomenico is a fellow of the Royal Statistical Society as well as owner...

Newsrooms all over the world are embracing data journalism – looking for unique and thoughtful ways to use data to tell stories about their communities. But is every newsroom handling data as carefully as it should be? What safeguards are in place ensure journalists are using data in ethical ways? That’s the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Irineo Cabreros. Cabreros (@cabreros...