| As Easy as 1, 2, 3? by Helen Joyce Statistics fill our newspapers and TV screens. Statistics like ... the number of young people who have committed a serious crime and the number of teenagers who have caught swine flu. All are quoted as fact. So why do different ‘experts’ quote very different numbers for these statistics - and how do any of them know anyway? In this talk, Helen delves behind some of the most controversial numbers and finds out that while everyone counts, some count more than others. Helen's Biog Helen Joyce is the Education correspondent for The Economist. She was previously the editor of Significance, the magazine of the Royal Statistical Society, and also Plus, the web site magazine of the Millennium Maths Project. She grew up in Dublin and trained as a dancer before pursuing a maths degree. |
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