Podcasts about statistical laboratory

David Spiegelhalter is Emeritus Professor of Statistics in the Statistical Laboratory, University of Cambridge and author of new book The Art of Uncertainty We live in chaotic times and David makes that world a little clearer with humour and clarity in this special interview with Alberto and Simon. The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠ made with⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠TwoTone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, comes from David, and represents the death rates of the patients of murderer Dr Harold Shipman.

In this episode, Mark and Georgia spoke to Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, who is currently Chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, based within the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics at the University of Cambridge. Prior to this, he was the Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory within the same department. He completed his undergraduate degree in statistics at the University of Oxford, later moving to University College London to complete his MSc and PhD in mathematical statistics under the supervision of Sir Adrian Smith. His research interests include use of Bayesian methods in medical statistics, and the monitoring and comparing of clinical and public-health outcomes and their associated publication as performance indicators. Currently, he is working on improving the way in which risk and statistical evidence is taught and discussed in society. He has hosted and appeared on various TV and radio shows such as BBC Horizon and Desert Island Discs, and has also published several books. You can find Professor Spiegelhalter on Twitter @d_spiegel, or his personal home page: https://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/~david/ (where you can find the video of him on Winter Wipeout!). The BlueSci Podcast is run by the Cambridge University Science Magazine. This episode was hosted by Georgia Nixon and Mark Grimes. Visit www.bluesci.co.uk to access our free magazine, and find out how to get involved. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review or rating! we welcome your feedback and suggestions via email: podcast(at)bluesci.co.uk. You can also follow us on Twitter on @bluescipod or Instagram @bluescicam.

Merriam-Webster's word of the year for 2021 was vaccine, but it could just as easily have been 'misinformation'. This nebulous thing has been front and centre since the dawn of the pandemic; most notably the spread of scientific misinformation, inaccurate or misleading science which can be spread both deliberately and inadvertently, and can really undermine confidence in authorities and health workers. Stemming the flow of misinformation has proved difficult, for governments and particularly for social media companies: do you try to repress it, stop it from spreading - adopt a mitigation approach, as it were? Do you go for an elimination approach, deleting misinformation, pretending it never existed? Do you try to educate people to get better at spotting it - a time-intensive process which might not even yield results? All these questions and more are the focus of a new report from the United Kingdom's Royal Society, which comes to some fascinating conclusions about what works when tackling disinformation and what doesn't. Frank Kelly is a Professor of the Mathematics of Systems at the Statistical Laboratory, University of Cambridge, and Chair of the report, he spoke to Emile Donovan.

It is called the “psychology of requests.” That is, if you want someone to do something for you, it is all about how you phrase it. This episode begins with a discussion on the best ways to ask people, so they respond the way you want and do things you want them to. http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/09/persuasive-techniques-that-actually-work.html Every day you are presented with problems. According to my guest Marie Forleo, all those problems can be solved with the right attitude and the right approach. Marie Forleo is a wildly popular entrepreneur, writer, philanthropist, optimist and author of the book, Everything is Figureoutable (https://amzn.to/32NIeVw). Listen as she offers a fresh way to look at and solve the problems of life. Marie's website is www.MarieForleo.com  Of course, you know that it's not polite to stare. Still, people stare. So, if you do, how long can you stare before you creep people out? Listen as I reveal the exact number of seconds – down to a tenth of a second so you will now know proper staring etiquette. http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/3/7/160086 Statistics are funny. It seems you can make them say whatever you want – in fact you can just make them up out of thin air and likely never get caught. Unless of course you are talking with my guest, David Spiegelhalter. He is a British statistician and Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. He is also author of the book The Art of Statistics (https://amzn.to/30amC8T). David joins me to reveal how best to use statistics to bolster your own argument and how to question other people when they use statistics to make sure they are real and relevant. PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! We really like The Jordan Harbinger Show! Check out https://jordanharbinger.com/start OR search for it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.  You can grow thicker, healthier hair AND get $15 off at https://nutrafol.com Promo code: SOMETHING Download the GetUpside App and use promo code SOMETHING to get up to 50¢/gallon cash back on your first tank! Discover matches all the cash back you earn on your credit card at the end of your first year automatically and is accepted at 99% of places in the U.S. that take credit cards! Learn more at https://discover.com/yes Listen to Build For Tomorrow with Jason Feifer, our favorite new podcast, right here! https://apple.co/3rPM8La or visit https://www.jasonfeifer.com/build-for-tomorrow/ JUSTWORKS makes it easier for you to start, run and grow a business. Learn more: https://justworks.com Omaha Steaks is the best! Get awesome pricing at https://OmahaSteaks.com/BMT T-Mobile for Business the leader in 5G, #1 in customer satisfaction, and a partner who includes benefits like 5G in every plan. Visit https://T-Mobile.com/business Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The role of scientific advisers to government is under the spotlight as never before. It is easy enough to talk of “speaking truth to power” – but as governments' efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic demonstrate – the science is often evolving and uncertain. At a time when politicians are relying on scientists not only to inform decisions but also as trusted communicators – what is the nature of the authority and power of science advisers? In this week's episode of Science, Policy & Pandemics, our host Dr Rob Doubleday and guest host Salma Shah explore how the relationship between scientists and policymakers works in practice. With guests Lord Alistair Darling and Professor Frank Kelly, they discuss how ministers and their scientific advisers can build relationships based on trust, and how the nature of decisions, the personalities of the people involved, and the wider political context can shape those vital relationships. CSaP's Science and Policy Podcast is a production of the Centre for Science and Policy at the University of Cambridge. This series on science, policy and pandemics is produced in partnership with Cambridge Infectious Diseases and the Cambridge Immunology Network. Our guests this week: Salma Shah was Special Adviser to the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, from 2018-19. She was responsible for strategy and communication across the Department. She has served in Government since May 2014, in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG). Prior to this, Salma was a journalist at the BBC, producing the Today programme on Radio 4. The Rt Hon. Lord Alistair Darling, Baron of Roulanish is a Labour Life peer, and he previously served as a Member of Parliament from 1987 until 2015. He served continuously in the Labour government's cabinet from 1997 to 2010, in posts including Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Secretary of State for Transport, and Chancellor of the Exchequer. Professor Frank Kelly is a Professor of the Mathematics of Systems at Statistical Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. His main research interests are in random processes, networks and optimization. From 2003 to 2006 he served as Chief Scientific Adviser to the United Kingdom's Department for Transport. -- CSaP: The Science & Policy Podcast is hosted by CSaP Executive Director Dr Rob Doubleday, and is edited and produced by CSaP Communications Coordinator Kate McNeil. If you have feedback about this episode, or questions you would like us to address in a future week, please email enquiries@csap.cam.ac.uk.

Every death is a tragedy for grief-stricken families, but every set of statistics is an opportunity to understand the virus and the disease Covid-19 a bit more. In fact gathering these data, quickly and accurately, is a priority at the moment, up there with developing a vaccine and rolling out widespread testing. Gareth Mitchell discusses, with, David Spiegelhalter, who is the Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, why it’s so hard to measure coronavirus fatalities. The Covid-19 pandemic is unprecedented in modern times. There will no doubt be years of debating over who managed the outbreak the best, which tools and actions were implemented at the right time and in the right way. One small, but important part of dealing with the viral outbreak is contact tracing – discovering who is infected and who they might have come into contact with. This has to be done quickly, so the people an infected person had contact with, can be found and informed to isolate, before they themselves spread the virus further. Some countries used this early on in the pandemic (Singapore and South Korea, have successfully used it to contain their outbreaks, while Germany, which has a far lower case and death rate than the UK, has also worked hard on contact tracing.) Others are hoping to implement contact tracing as a means of easing social distancing or coming out of lockdown. To do this public health agencies will have to start aggressively contact tracing and at a much higher level than they were a few months ago. The UK started using contact tracing then stopped, they are now looking to restart it. A plausible way of doing this is to make use of the fact that a lot of people carry a mobile phone, so apps that can help are being developed and used. There are biological factors that need to be taken into account (reliable, accessible testing in the first place) but also logistical, practical and security issues… who are we giving our data to? And what are they doing with it? Could it be used to restrict my freedom in ways other than just managing the spread of the virus? Timandra Harkness author of Big Data, Does Size Matter? and Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, and a member of their working group on Data Ethics helps answer these questions. Finally, a small bit of good that’s come out of another dark time in our recent history. Atomic bomb tests during the Cold War. The nuclear fallout, doubled the amount of an isotope called carbon-14 in the atmosphere. And that has turned out to be very useful for scientists working on a crucial conservation effort – to age and safeguard the world’s largest fish - the Whale Shark. Presenter - Gareth Mitchell Producer - Fiona Roberts

If you want someone to do something for you, it is all about how you phrase it. This episode begins with a discussion on the psychology of requests and how to say it so people will respond the way you want them to. http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/09/persuasive-techniques-that-actually-work.htmlWhen life dishes out problems you have to solve them. And according to my guest, the good news is that all those problems can be solved. Marie Forleo is a wildly popular entrepreneur, writer, philanthropist, optimist and author of the book, Everything is Figureoutable (https://amzn.to/32NIeVw). Listen as she offers a fresh way to look at and solve the problems of life.Marie’s website is www.MarieForleo.com So it’s not polite to stare but if you are going to stare, how long before you really creep people out? I’ll reveal the exact number of seconds – down to a tenth of a second so you will now know proper staring etiquette. http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/3/7/160086Statistics are a funny thing. It seems you can make them say whatever you want – in fact you can just make them up out of thin air and likely never get caught. Unless of course you are talking with my guest, David Spiegelhalter. He is a British statistician and Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. He is also author of the book The Art of Statistics (https://amzn.to/30amC8T). He joins me to reveal how best to use statistics to bolster your own argument and how to question them when other people use statistics to make sure they are real and relevant. This Week’s Sponsors -Zapier. Try Zapier for free for 14 days. Go to www.Zapier.com/SYSK-Native. For 20% off your first purchase of Native deodorant go to www.nativedeodorant.com and use promo code: SYSK -Daily Harvest. For $25 off your first box go to www.dailyharvest.com and use promo code: something-Babbel. To learn a language go to www.Babbel.com and get a whole year of access to Babbel for as low as $3.50 a month!-SimpliSafe. Get free shipping and a money back guarantee go to www.SimpliSafe.com/something-LinkedIn. For $50 off you first job post, go to www.LinkedIn.com/podcast

Statistician and Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory at the University of Cambridge Sir David Spiegelhalter explains the pseudoscience behind Blue Monday, the power of numbers, and how to spot a dodgy stat. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

David Spiegelhalter is Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, Chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, and President of the Royal Statistical Society.

These are uncertain times. The British Prime Minister Theresa May has survived a vote of confidence in her leadership, but the future of her Brexit deal remains unknown. In the US, Donald Trump faces a hostile Congress and multiple legal threats to his presidency. Meanwhile the IPCC says the entire planet must urgently address the existential challenge of climate change, yet the path forward remains littered with obstacles.What is the best way to weather all this uncertainty? In a programme first aired in 2016, Manuela Saragosa gets advice from David Tuckett, professor and director of the Centre for the Study of Decision-Making Uncertainty at University College London. Plus, David Spiegelhalter, Winton professor for the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory, at the University of Cambridge, explains the difference between risk and uncertainty. Lt Col Steven Gventer of the US Army tells us how soldiers are trained to deal with uncertainty in war. And, Will Borrell, founder and owner of Vestal Vodka and the owner of the Ladies & Gents bar in London, recalls how his customers reacted on the evening after the UK voted to leave the European Union. (Picture: British Prime Minister Theresa May at the opening day of the G20 Summit in Argentina; Credit: Amilcar Orfali/Getty Images)

David Spiegelhalter is Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, Chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication , and President of the Royal Statistical Society . He is passionate about helping the public understand uncertainty and risk . His recent book, Sex by Numbers , describes scientific research that provides a view of the world of sex.

David Spiegelhalter is Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, Chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication , and President of the Royal Statistical Society . He is passionate about helping the public understand uncertainty and risk . His recent book, Sex by Numbers , describes scientific research that provides a view of the world of sex.

While they aren’t as unpopular as politicians or journalists, people who work with statistics come in for their share of abuse. “Figures lie and liars figure,” goes one maxim. And don’t forget, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." But some people are the good guys, doing their best to combat the flawed or dishonest use of numbers. One of those good guys is David Spiegelhalter, professor of the public understanding of risk in the Statistical Laboratory in the Centre for Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge and current president of the Royal Statistical Society. Spiegelhalter, the subject of this Social Science Bites podcast, even cops to being a bit of an “evidence policeman” because on occasion even he spends some of his time “going around telling people off for bad behavior.” There is bad behavior to police. “There’s always been the use of statistics and numbers and facts as rhetorical devices to try and get people’s opinion across, and to in a sense manipulate our emotions and feelings on things,” he tells interviewer David Edmonds. “People might still think that statistics and numbers are cold, hard facts but they’re soft, fluffy things. They can be manipulated and changed, made to look big, made to look small, all depending on the story that someone wants to tell.” Asked at one point if he even accepts that there are ‘facts,’ Spiegelhalter gives a nuanced yes. “I’m not going to get into the whole discussion about ‘what is truth,’ although it’s amazing how quick you do go down that line. No, there are facts, and I really value them.” Despite that policing role, Spiegelhalter explain, his methods are less prescriptive and more educational, working to get others to ask key questions such as “What am I not being told?” and “Why I am hearing this?” The goal is less to track down every bit of fake news in the world, and more to inoculate others against its influence. One part of that, for example, is determining what communicators and organizations to trust. Spiegelhalter, acknowledging his debt to Onora O'Neill, an emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of Cambridge, argues that organizations themselves shouldn’t strive to be trusted, but to show trustworthy attributes. This goes beyond things like “fishbowl transparency,” where you lard your website with every imaginable factoid, but actively making sure people can get to your information, understand it and they can assess how reliable it is. That ‘understanding’ part of the process is what Spigelhalter pursues as part of chairing the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, which is dedicated to improving the way that quantitative evidence is used in society. In that role he’s become a public face of honest use of numbers, as evidenced by his role as presenter of the BBC4 documentaries Tails you Win: the Science of Chance and Climate Change by Numbers. His own research focuses on health-related use of statistics and statistical methods, and while that might include Bayesian inference using Gibbs samplinig, it can also encompass the focus of his 2015 book, Sex by Numbers.

Professor David Spiegelhalter, , Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge delivers the annual Sidney Ball lecture at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford