Posts written by Atakohu Middleton (125)

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).

Just in from the Royal Statistical Society in the UK:

“Recent years have seen an encouraging amount of attention being paid to statistical accuracy in the media. This is not only because journalists can find meaty stories in catching a politician or organisation out with inaccurate figures. The increased amount of scrutiny in a changing media environment also means journalists themselves are under increasing pressure to get their facts and figures correct.

“The BBC has recognised this reality by creating a new post, Head of Statistics, with business reporter Anthony Reuben moving into the position after more than a decade at the corporation.”

Read more about this excellent piece of news on the Royal Statistical Society website here.

Congratulations to statschat.org.nz’s Thomas Lumley, Professor of Biostatistics in the Department of Statistics at the University of Auckland, who as of today is a new columnist for the venerable New Zealand Listener (in the edition dated March 1-7; its cover story is the third anniversary of the fatal Christchurch earthquake). Stats Chat staffers are delighted that we now have another way to target stats crimes and shed some light on statistics in the media every day.

The introductory blurb on the Listener’s Letters is below (complete with evidence that Julie can’t make a straight scan):

And Thomas’ his first column asks this question: How much of the difference between women’s and men’s wages is a result of individual choice? Have a read of Closing the gap.

Every year, the Department of Statistics at the University of Auckland offers summer scholarships to a number of students so they can work with our staff on real-world projects. Jonathan Goodman is working with Associate Professor Brian McArdle on a project called A comparison of multivariate dispersion tests. Jonathan explains:

“The assumption of homoscedasticity, that the groups we are going to compare have the same level of spread, is one of the fundamental assumptions made when doing analysis of variance. My research is looking at the range of tests of equality of variance.  

“Brian has developed a technique that enables us to take tests developed to examine the levels of variance in a single variable and apply them to multivariate data. The aim of my research is to examine the personality of a range of tests in the univariate domain: are they Liberal or Conservative? Do they need lots of data and can they handle lots of groups at once? I will then take the univariate tests, and using Brian’s technique, see how they work with multivariate data.

“Over the past three years, I’ve been using techniques without looking at the machinery behind them. Now I get to break them open, see which work best and where, and perhaps give back to the stats community by helping to optimise the techniques.

“I have just completed my BSc majoring in Statistics and Psychology and next I will be doing my Honours degree in Statistics.

“Statistics is the best subject to study because it gives one the tools to answer questions asked in every subject. I’ve worked with people looking at the feelings of petrol station reps; the attitudes and values of New Zealanders; the effect of the stiffness of the pelvic floor on post-natal pelvic organ disorders; and the effects of different stent designs on aortal blood flow.”

Every year, the Department of Statistics at the University of Auckland offers summer scholarships to a number of students so they can work with our staff on real-world projects.  Tim (below) is working with Associate Professor Rachel Fewster on a project called Acoustics as a method of wildlife monitoring. Tim explains:

“My research project involves taking noisy audio recordings taken in the bush and trying to extract key features and parameters from these recordings. These features can then be used to train a statistical model that will be able to recognise patterns in bird song and calls of a specific species. The project will focus on recordings of an endangered native species, the kōkako.

“This research will be of significant use to the conservation efforts for the kōkako. Currently, population estimates rely on being able to find kōkako nests during fledging season and banding new chicks when they fledge. This is extremely difficult, as it relies on extensive hours from volunteers working in dense bush. The vast majority of chicks fledge without being banded.

“With the kōkako detection model, we will be able to use triangulation to pinpoint the position of the birds when they call or sing. This will enable us to monitor their behaviour and narrow down kōkako nests and territories. This will make far easier the process of finding nests and banding and monitor new chicks, and will give rangers and volunteers information about birds’ whereabouts.

“I hold a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. I am now studying a Graduate Diploma in Science majoring in Mathematics. Statistics appeals to me as it is provides a scientist with a formal language of the real world.”

“In my spare time this summer, I hope to be getting out for the odd surf. I also hope to get out on our yacht with my dad and my brother.”

Every year, the Department of Statistics at the University of Auckland offers summer scholarships to a number of students so they can work with our staff on real-world projects.  Lily (below) is working with Dr. Steffen Klaere (Statistics) and Prof Miriam Meyerhoff (Linguistics) on a project called Structure detection in spoken language features. Lily explains:

“I ain’t going nowhere. Me no care.” These are a couple of examples that illustrate my rather interesting project research topic, looking at the use of the non-standard spoken English form also known as Bequia Creole (Bequia is  part of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines). Linguists have hypotheses about Creole speakers using certain language patterns in their speech, and as statisticians we are especially interested in potential groupings among features of Creole and identifying those patterns. Over the summer, we will be analysing data obtained from conversations with speakers from three villages.

“One example is the Creole form of negation (ain’t instead of am not in standard English) possibly clustered with negative concord or double negation (I ain’t … nowhere instead of I am not … anywhere in standard English). Some other features of Creole we are also interested in include the zero copular verb (the verb “be” in English), the non-standard subject form, tense-aspect markers and the like. In particular, we would like to use statistical tools to visualise and quantify any clustering relationships.

“Being bilingual myself – I also speak Vietnamese – I hope the research will give some kind of insight into linguistic understanding of spoken languages.

“I have just completed two-and-a-half years of a conjoint BA/BCom degree. Aside from my Statistics major, I am also completing a second major in Economics for the BA component of my degree.

“I really enjoy the problem-solving aspect of science and I admire the magic of numbers to tell stories. In particular, I am amazed by the usefulness of statistics for giving undeniable evidence either for or against a logical- sounding statement. I am still considering whether to go on to Honours in statistics after I’ve finished my time as an undergraduate, but I know for sure a background in statistics will be help me to become a more competent econometrician and generally speaking, help me to make more sense of the world around me.

“Over the summer, I’m looking forward to doing lots of relaxing and pursuing my favourite pastimes: reading, cooking, origami, guitar playing, and spending lots of time at the beach with family and friends.”

Every year, the Department of Statistics at the University of Auckland offers summer scholarships to a number of students so they can work with our staff on real-world projects.  Hongbin Guo (below) is working with Dr. Stephane Guindon on a project called Incorporating spatial information into the coalescent. Hongbin explains:

“We all share a common ancestor. The age of that ancestor strongly depends on the size of the population under scrutiny. For instance, two individuals randomly chosen in New Zealand (a large population) will generally have an older common ancestor compared to two randomly-chosen individuals from the same family (a small population). Kingman’s coalescent translates this idea into a simple yet powerful statistical tool that has been used to infer the size of populations given the genealogies of groups of individuals.

“However, this approach does not account for spatial information – the location of individuals is simply ignored. Since closely-related individuals also tend to live next to each other, incorporating spatial information into the coalescent appear like a relevant extension of this model. This project aims at making a first step in this direction.

“I am an international student from China, and this is my fourth year at the University of Auckland. I have a BCom\BSc in Economics, Statistics and Mathematics; this year I am doing Honours.

“Statistics appeals to me because our society is built on information, and statistics is the study of finding logic and useful information in messy piles of data. It is the study of bringing beauty out of chaos. Statistics is extremely useful in all fields of science.

“This summer, when I am not working on my project, I want to take a trip to the South Island and see beautiful New Zealand. In the past four years, thanks to my workload, I haven’t got out of Auckland. I am really grateful for this scholarship – hard work pays off, indeed!”

Every year, the Department of Statistics offers summer scholarships to a number of students so they can work with our staff on real-world projects. Geyang is working with Dr Ian Tuck on a project called Correlations between air pollutants.  Geyang, below, explains:

“It is likely that the levels of air pollutants are somehow related in time if they arise from a common source such as vehicle emissions. Relationships between levels of pollutants could also be influenced by meteorological conditions, such as wind speed. Furthermore, the relationship may change in time as the nature of emissions changes due to technological change or emission controls.

“My research is about investigating the nature of the correlation between a number of key air pollutants, using data collected by Auckland Council and National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research.  This project mainly focuses on predicting PM2.5 from PM10 and investigating correlation between particle number concentration (PNC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).

“PM2.5 refers to particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers, which tend to penetrate into the gas-exchange regions of the lung. They can adversely affect human health and also have impacts on climate and precipitation. It is becoming very important to measure PM2.5 level in Auckland Council’s air-quality monitoring network. However, most weather stations in New Zealand monitor just the level of PM10. It is too expensive to measure all pollutants at all times, therefore, this project will be very useful if we can establish the relationship between correlated pollutants so that concentrations of one may be estimated from concentrations of the other.

“I have just finished my third year of a Bachelor of Science/ Bachelor of Commerce conjoint majoring in Statistics, Accounting and Finance, and I plan to pursue postgraduate studies in Statistics after I graduate.

“Statistics appeals to me because of its relevance to a lot of real-world problems. Stats can be widely applied to almost every industry. It helps us to make sense of data and extract useful information from large datasets. Furthermore, Statistics provides me with many quantitative skills that are transferable across a wide range of fields and has improved my problem-solving ability significantly. I have found learning stats at the University of Auckland to be very enjoyable due to the great learning environment and friendly lecturers.

“Over the summer, I’m also doing a lot of relaxing: catching up with friends, watching movies, spending some time at the beach and playing computer games.”

Every year, the Department of Statistics at the University of Auckland offers summer scholarships to a number of students so they can work with our staff on real-world projects.  Hongbin is working with Dr. Steffen Klaere on a project called Comparing and visualising measures of biodiversity. Bor-Kuan (below) explains:

“Our project is about acquiring and modifying data on biodiversity in New Zealand and possibly combining them into a visualisation in the form of maps. We will try look into the interaction between and within New Zealand birds, plants and soil compositions. “As technology develops and the availability of web storage space increases, it becomes easier to compare data from different sources. This presents an opportunity to assess the biodiversity in the NZ ecosystem, and have a better understanding of it.

“I’m studying a Bachelor of Science majoring in Statistics and Computer Science, and I’ve already finished a Bachelor of Music majoring in accordion performance. I’m into maths as well and have done most of the Stage II maths courses. My goal is to do actuarial studies, and so statistics, and, in part, computer science, will be a big part of it.”

Every year, the Department of Statistics offers summer scholarships to a number of students so they can work with our staff on real-world projects. We’ll be profiling them on Stats Chat.

Savannah is working with Professor Alan Lee on a project called Modelling criminal sentencing. Savannah explains:

“The aim of my project is to identify the factors that are influencing sentencing outcomes in our justice system. Sentencing outcomes include both the type of punishment which is handed down – anything from a discharge without conviction to imprisonment – and also the length of the sentence imposed.

“In an ideal situation, the variation we see in sentencing outcomes should be explained purely by the crimes committed and the criminal history of the convicted person. Problems obviously arise when sentencing outcomes are influenced by illegitimate factors such as race. If race (or any other irrelevant factor) remains an influential factor in sentencing, even after the offending and criminal history have been taken into account, then certain groups in our society are being treated unfairly by the justice system, which is a major concern. The purpose of my research is to identify whether or not this is the case.

“This is useful research as the powers of the justice system are immense and criminal sentencing changes lives: not only the life of the person who is convicted but also the lives of that person’s family, friends and wider community. It’s absolutely essential that those powers are applied in the fairest way – without discrimination, in other words.

“I’ve just finished my third year of a BSc/LLB conjoint degree, so I have another two years to go. This is my second summer research project and I’m really enjoying the opportunity to experience another side of statistics.

“At the moment, I don’t have any clear ideas about where I’d like to go after finishing university, but I’m interested in the developing trend towards evidence-based policies in local and national government. I’m hoping to find an internship or something similar so that I can find out some more about the opportunities available.

“On a personal/academic level, the methodical and logical nature of statistics appeals to me. I also enjoy the combination of mathematical and interpretive skills that statistics requires. On another level, I think statistics is really important for society as a whole, because it can show us truths which would otherwise be obscured, either because the data is too overwhelming for us to comprehend or because our own prejudices have been influencing our perception of that data.

“I had a busy start to the summer, travelling to North America on a choir tour. It was loads of fun (but cold!), particularly since I had never been there before. Aside from my research, my plan for the rest of the summer is to relax and rejuvenate prior to hitting the books again in March.”