Improving journalists’ statistical literacy via a new unit standard
As our regular readers will know, statschat bloggers go about educating the media in statistical literacy in various ways – making ourselves available to media, delivering workshops to working journalists and student journalists, and critiquing stats use in the media around us.
But we also have to look at the journalist pipeline – embedding statistical literacy in journalism students and their teachers. Over the last couple of years, Yours Truly, who spent many years of her life in newsrooms as a hack, latterly at the New Zealand Herald, has been banging that drum.
So it’s great news that the decision has been made to devise a unit standard in statistical thinking for the National Diploma in Applied Journalism that journalists follow on-the-job. This would be a Level 6 qualification and it would plug a gaping hole in the diploma. The unit standard doesn’t have a name yet (but I quite like the idea of something like “Demonstrate statistical literacy by ….”)
The reference group is below; we met this week to get things moving.
- Mike Fletcher (NZJTO Executive Director, which has just beem folded into the ITO COMPETENZ), Project Lead
- Andrew Tideswell (Statistics Education, Statistics NZ), facilitator
- Christine McLoughlin (NZJTO Standards Writer)
- Dr Richard Arnold (Professor of Statistics, Victoria University of Wellington)
- Clio Francis, who works on stuff.co.nz (Fairfax Media)
- Colin Marshall, (Acting Manager Strategic Communication, Statistics NZ)
- Paul Stone, (Open Data Advisor, LINZ)
- Patricia Brooking (from COMPETENZ, who is involved with student resource creation)
- Julie Middleton ( Strategic communications consultant, editor, writer, researcher, Communications Adviser to the Department of Statistics, The University of Auckland).
I’ll let you know from time to time how we’re going – and may well ask for your help in finding good case studies and Excel-based data sets to help journalists become familiar with statistical thinking and tools (Excel is a rarity in New Zealand newsrooms).
Atakohu Middleton is an Auckland journalist with a keen interest in the way the media uses/abuses data. She happens to be married to a statistician. See all posts by Atakohu Middleton »
Julie – have you considered asking someone from the Research Association of New Zealand (formerly MRSNZ and AMRO) to go on the reference group.
RANZ is very keen to improve the literacy of journalists on understanding and reporting of research findings, especially poll results. A code of best practice has been developed etc.
11 years ago
Hi David, I’m not in charge of the reference group’s membership, but having met everyone, it seems balanced. Is the code of best practice on the web?
11 years ago
The draft was published last year at http://www.mrsnz.org.nz/wa.asp?idWebPage=46308&idDetails=202
The final will be released shortly.
Personally I think not having anyone from the actual business side of research/statistics is an omission, but up to the NZJTO. The offer is there, if they want it.
I’d love to have available to any journalism course that wants it a market research professional who can go in and do a guest lecture on how to interpret and report polls.
Sadly all too often the reporting (not so much press gallery who are quite good) is woeful.
Cheers
11 years ago
Any idea how many credits this unit standard might be worth? I’d hope for something somewhat like a first year university paper so they can go into some depth.
11 years ago
It’s at level 6, so at undergrad level.
11 years ago
I highly recommend including:
* Stephanie Budgett and Maxine Pfannkuch, The University of Auckland
* John A Harraway University of Otago.
All three have done extensive work on analyzing the use of statistics in news stories and in teaching statistical literacy.
For some reference materials, check http://www.statlit.org/Jrnl1.htm
Milo Schield
US Coordinator for the International Statistical Litearcy Project. Editor of http://www.StatLit.org
11 years ago