September 19, 2011
Stat of the Week Competition: September 17-23
Each week, we would like to invite readers of Stats Chat to submit nominations for our Stat of the Week competition and be in with the chance to win an iTunes voucher.
Here’s how it works:
- Anyone may add a comment on this post to nominate their Stat of the Week candidate before midday Friday September 23 2011.
- Statistics can be bad, exemplary or fascinating.
- The statistic must be in the NZ media during the period of September 17-23 2011 inclusive.
- Quote the statistic, when and where it was published and tell us why it should be our Stat of the Week.
Next Monday at midday we’ll announce the winner of this week’s Stat of the Week competition, and start a new one.
The fine print:
- Judging will be conducted by the blog moderator in liaison with staff at the Department of Statistics, The University of Auckland.
- The judges’ decision will be final.
- The judges can decide not to award a prize if they do not believe a suitable statistic has been posted in the preceeding week.
- Only the first nomination of any individual example of a statistic used in the NZ media will qualify for the competition.
- Employees (other than student employees) of the Statistics department at the University of Auckland are not eligible to win.
- The person posting the winning entry will receive a $20 iTunes voucher.
- The blog moderator will contact the winner via their notified email address and advise the details of the $20 iTunes voucher to that same email address.
- The competition will commence Monday 8 August 2011 and continue until cancellation is notified on the blog.
Statistic: An Auckland youth development program seeks a minimum 80 per cent participation in early childhood education city-wide within three years, 100 per cent of young people leaving school to be “work ready” and 80 per cent of school leavers with level 1 NCEA within 10 years.
Source: Stuff.co.nz
Date: 20/09/11
This statistic is targeting development in our society with the hope of achieving an increase in youth employment and productivity. This is fantastic when considered alongside the plethora of issues relating to youth unemployment and general welfare in society. In addition, Auckland wants to move up the ranks in “worlds most live-able cities.” VERY WORTHWHILE
13 years ago
Statistic: New Zealand has more bookshops per head of population than any other country; one for every 7,500 people (compared with one for every 19,000 in England and one for every 50,000 in the USA).
Source: Website
Date: 31 July 2010
It’s fascinating! And it encourages people to notice bookshops more, we’ve got plenty.
13 years ago
Statistic: The traditional revenue mix for traditional newspapers are 70% from advertising and 30% from subscriptions.
Source: http://blog.business-model-innovation.com/2009/09/who-says-paper-is-dead-business-model-innovation-in-the-newspaper-industry/
Date: 2009
Newspaper’s have become a dying breed, soon we will be recieving news from the digital domain. It is important to recognise these statistics so that we as consumers can act and keep the physical newspaper!
13 years ago
Statistic: Women who eat low-fat yoghurt while pregnant increase their chances of having children who develop asthma and hay fever.
Daily yoghurt consumption raised the odds 1.6 times of giving birth to a child who suffered from asthma by the age of seven.
Source: New Zealand Herald
Date: 20 September 2011
It is interesting that something as healthy as low-fat yoghurt could lead to children developing asthma and hay-fever.
The question really is if it implies causal association or is it something else.
13 years ago
Statistic: New Zealand’s obesity rate increased surged ahead over the past decade, according to a new report. File photo / Thinkstock
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New Zealand’s obesity rate increased surged ahead over the past decade, according to a new report. File photo / Thinkstock
New Zealand’s obesity rate surged ahead in the 12 years to 2009, a major nutrition report released today by the Ministry of Health shows.
For men the obesity rate shot up to 27.7 per cent in 2009, up from 17 per cent.
Source: A focus on nutrition, key findings of the 2008/09 New Zealand adult nutrition survey.
Date: 2011
This research helps us to look into our eating and exercises habit. It goes without saying that our lifestyle is more towards unhealthy fast food and less exercises…and more stress prone.
13 years ago
Statistic: Early birds healthier and happier.
If you’re a morning person, chances are you’re happier, healthier and slimmer than people who like a lie in, a study has found.
A UK study has found early risers complete morning chores quicker and thrive in the workplace, while those who struggle to get out of bed are more likely to be depressed, stressed and overweight, the Irish Independent reports.
Researchers surveyed 1068 adults online about their sleeping and eating habits, as well as their levels of happiness, anxiety and physical health.
Morning people were those who got out of bed by 6.58am on average during the week, while evening people fled the bed at 7.47am each day.
On weekends both groups enjoyed another hour under the covers.
Dr Joerg Huber of Roehampton University said the morning people tend to be healthier and happier, as well as having lower body mass indices, the Independent reported.
He told a British Psychological Society conference the reasons may be down to the fact that getting morning chores out of the way and getting children to school more quickly helps people deal with hectic modern life.
But don’t get too excited if you get up when the sun doesn’t shine, Dr Huber said the differences are small and there may be some benefits to being an evening person, such as in jobs which require working late.
Source: NZ Herald
Date: 10:30 AM Friday Sep 16, 2011
From my point of view, although this study is not really reliable because of several reasons (such as the researchers just surveyed 1068 adults – which are not representative for all others, and the method of research is online survey – which is likely to have the self-selection effect from the non-sampling errors), it is undeniable that getting up early will bring us lots of advantages. Frankly speaking, the fact that many students nowadays decide to stay up very late to finish their work and do something else then get up early on the following day to catch up to school. If they get up early, probably they will not able to study and learn effectively and efficiently. Therefore, it is not worth staying so late and then have a not-effective day next day. Students should realise this to adjust the habit of study to be always energetic and ready for the classes.
13 years ago
Statistic: Census date announced
Wherever you are in New Zealand, from Scott Base in Antarctica to the far north of the country, or even on an oil rig off the Taranaki coast, on 5 March 2013, you have to be counted in the census.
Government Statistician Geoff Bascand says with well under two years to go, preparations are moving with a sense of urgency and excitement.
The Census of Population and Dwellings is a chance to find out a lot of information about who we are as a country, and where and how we live. The information people give is used by many groups to decide how to provide the things New Zealanders need, like hospitals, schools, and roads.
The census is a national stocktake and underpins our democracy – where people live determines the areas politicians represent.
“The 2011 Census was deferred because of the February Christchurch earthquake. This makes the 2013 Census even more important, because people and organisations that rely on census statistics for their planning want the latest information available,” Mr Bascand said.
“We’ve been working with these groups to identify other sources of information to help meet their needs until the next census. But we are aware of a keener interest than ever from government, business, and communities for Statistics NZ to run a very successful 2013 Census.
“I am very confident that we can meet those expectations.”
Source: Straight Furrow
Date: 19.09.2011
You snooze you loose! Being organised is everything, so I am making an attempt to support this case by spreading the word. You might not even be thinking about your final exams yet, but March 2013 will be here before you know it!! So be prepared, make your arrangements now so that you can rest assured till 2013.
13 years ago
Statistic: Many Kiwis think sex education in schools has gone too far.
“More than 70 per cent of 13,550 Herald readers in an online poll said it was inappropriate for 12-year-olds to be learning in class about oral sex”
Only 29 per cent felt sex education was okay and “giving kids the information they needed”.
Source: NZ Herald
Date: 20/09/2011
This is one poll that was guaranteed to elicit some very strong response from Herald readers! The article doesn’t actually state the question that was asked for the poll – is it asking if NZ sex education in schools is appropriate or if its ok to teach 12 year olds about oral sex? The disclaimer (“this unscientific poll”) made in the beginning of the article is quite amusing.
13 years ago
Statistic: Pregnancy study links low-fat yoghurt to asthma in children
Women who eat low-fat yoghurt while pregnant increase their chances of having children who develop asthma and hay fever, a study has found.
Daily yoghurt consumption raised the odds 1.6 times of giving birth to a child who suffered from asthma by the age of seven.
Eating yoghurt almost doubled a mother’s chances of her child being diagnosed with allergic rhinitis, or hay fever.
However, the same study of almost 62,000 women in the Netherlands found that drinking milk during pregnancy had a small protective effect.
The researchers wanted to see whether fatty acids found in dairy products could help prevent childhood allergies.
They are still investigating the surprising link and believe it may not be a direct causal association.
One possibility is that yoghurt consumption acts as a proxy marker for other dietary and lifestyle factors.
It may also be that non-fat nutrient components in yoghurt play a part in increasing allergy risk.
Lead researcher Dr Ekaterina Maslova, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, United States, said: “This is the first study of its kind to link low-fat yoghurt intake during pregnancy with an increased risk of asthma and hay fever in children.
“This could be for a number of reasons and we will further investigate whether this is linked to certain nutrients or whether people who ate yoghurt regularly had similar lifestyle and dietary patterns which could explain the increased risk of asthma.”
Results of the study will be presented at the European Respiratory Society’s annual meeting in Amsterdam in late September.
Researchers collected questionnaire and health registry data on 61,912 women.
Source: NZ Herald
Date: 20 Sept 2011
It is one of the most bizarre statistics I have ever come across! The audacity of the conclusion however crazy it sounds is actually supported by series of well conducted tests. Obviously it would be more helpful to see the complete study, as the “1.6 times more likely” is far from conclusive (ie. if the likelihood is only 0.1% multiplied by 1.6 is only 0.16%)
The results could have a massive ripple effect in generations to come if it is further proven that foods such as yoghurt can have these crippling effects on children.
If it was proven it would certainly change my diet!! If I was a pregnant women that is…
13 years ago
Statistic: Bible-bangers aren’t the brightest, study shows
…
To reach the conclusion, researchers from the University of Edinburgh compared the results of responses from 2300 adults with varying levels of religious belief.
The researchers found higher IQ scores were significantly associated with lower scores on five of the six measures of religiosity – all except spirituality.
The strongest result was in the area of fundamental beliefs.
Intelligence was an “inoculation against fundamentalism”, with each 15-point increase in IQ making people about half as likely to have strong fundamentalist views, said Bates.
Source: New Zealand Herald
Date: 5:30 AM Sunday Sep 11, 2011
Because it’s hilarious.
13 years ago
Statistic: Which World Cup heavyweight is most penalised?
Source: New Zealand Herald
Date: Sep 20, 2011
ummm, actually I just want the mug. Hope I’m not too late.
13 years ago
Statistic: Almost half of Kiwi workers want to quit their job in the next year, many because they are sick of the systems and processes in their office, a survey shows.
Source: TVNZ News
Date: September 21, 2011
I think that this should be the statistic of the week because it is a good example of how the media generalises the results of one study to represent the views of all NZers.
This study was done on NZ and Australian workers. While the sample-size is stated, there is no mention of the number of NZ employees that made-up the sample. The article suggests that “45% were planning to look for another role in the next 12 months” but it does not mention what proportion of these were NZ workers and what proportion Australian workers. Thus, to suggest that “half of Kiwi workers want to quit” can be an incorrect assumption.
Lastly, the article does not mention the selection criteria used to select employees for survey and whether they were randomly chosen or not; which cities the employees worked in (was it a predominantly an urban or a rural environment? The results from Dunedin alone may not be generalisable to all of NZ). The methods of survey used (telephone, paper-based, internet-based or Newspaper-based polls) were also not mentioned. These can introduce sampling bias which can affect the external validity of the results.
13 years ago
Statistic: Food prices aren’t rising as quickly as we have been lead to believe and a basket of food items bought in NZ is in fact cheaper than OZ.
Source: interest.co.nz
Date: 22 September 2011
This is a carefully researched article by David Chaston which challenges the notion that food prices are supposedly rising fast.
It provides references for all the calculations and also a link to the official statistics web site for the food inflation index.
An enjoyable and credible article that is relevant to consumers and challenges how the authority Statistics NZ calculates their food price index.
13 years ago
Statistic: Over ten months, preemie parents took their baby to the doctor nearly six times if they had a false-positive but only about four times if they didn’t.
Source: Preemie parents may be worried sick by tests
Date: 22/09/11
Because it’s terrible. the headline is alarming and they built an entire story around the difference between ‘nearly six’ and ‘about four’.
13 years ago
Statistic: Experts say there is a one-in-3200 risk of the six-ton space junk hitting someone – considerably greater than the chances of winning Lotto, at just one in 3.8 million.
Source: New Zealand Herald
Date: 22 September 2011
There is a one in 3200 chance of the space junk hitting SOMEONE. There are approximately 6.7 billion inhabitants or “someones” on Earth. As such, the chance of it hitting me personally is far smaller i.e. 1 in (3200 x 6.7 billion) = 1 in around 21.4 trillion! So my chances of winning Lotto (as long as I buy a ticket!) are actually far greater than being hit by space junk, at the reported “one in 3.8 million”. In fairness the article does state 1-3200 risk of hitting SOMEONE. However, the reference to the chances of a lottery win is misleading as it implies the reported odds of the two events are comparable.
13 years ago
Statistic: “Nothing is supposed to move faster than light, at least according to Albert Einstein’s special theory of relativity: The famous E=mc2 equation. That stands for energy equals mass times the speed of light squared.
But neutrinos — one of the strangest well-known particles in physics — have now been observed smashing past this cosmic speed barrier of 299,792 kilometres per second.
CERN says a neutrino beam fired from a particle accelerator near Geneva to a lab 730 kilometres away in Italy travelled 60 nanoseconds faster than the speed of light. Scientists calculated the margin of error at just 10 nanoseconds, making the difference statistically significant. But given the enormity of the find, they still spent months checking and rechecking their results to make sure there was no flaws in the experiment.”
Source: Faster-than-light speed stuns
Date: 23/09/11
Well, besides the fact that it is about something completely fascinating that could potentially require a big rethink of some of our basic physical ideas, it is really nice to see the media reporting about the margin of error and statistical significance. It reflects the need for (and I hope growing rate of) statistical literacy among the wider population
13 years ago