August 19, 2013
Stat of the Week Competition: August 17 – 23 2013
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 August 23 2013.
- Statistics can be bad, exemplary or fascinating.
- The statistic must be in the NZ media during the period of August 17 – 23 2013 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.
- Individual posts on Stats Chat are just the opinions of their authors, who can criticise anyone who they feel deserves it, but the Stat of the Week award involves the Department of Statistics more officially. For that reason, we will not award Stat of the Week for a statistic coming from anyone at the University of Auckland outside the Statistics department. You can still nominate and discuss them, but the nomination won’t be eligible for the prize.
- 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.
Rachel Cunliffe is the co-director of CensusAtSchool and currently consults for the Department of Statistics. Her interests include statistical literacy, social media and blogging. See all posts by Rachel Cunliffe »
Statistic: 89% oppose the GCSB bill.
Source: Cambell Live
Date: 19 August 2013
Self-selecting poll made out to be accurate by virtual of the number of people responding. They should have called it a petition, not a poll. A random Research NZ poll, asking a different question, put opposition at 52%.
11 years ago
Statistic: Suicide rates drop for youth, rise for elderly.
Youth suicide rates have dropped in the past year after a sharp rise last year, and coroners are now increasingly concerned about suicides by elderly people instead.
Source: New Zealand Herald
Date: 22 August 2013
This seems to me to be an inappropriate reaction to what is undoubtedly statistical noise.
If one year has a high figure then the next year is probably going to be a low figure due purely to random variation – it does not reflect a drop in the underlying suicide rate.
The article also states that the suicode rate “jumps again to just above the overall average among those aged 80-plus.” It is not stated what “just above average” means. But “just above” doesn’t seem to be a cause for special concern.
11 years ago
Statistic: “Z on Friday announced the issued price would be $3.50 a share…” “The price came in where Curtayne predicted – at the top end of the $3.25 to $3.75 target range”.
Source: NZ Herald Business Section
Date: August 19, 2013
Somebody has an usual notion of where the middle of the range $3.25 to $3.75 lies when they refer to $3.50 as the “top end”. No wonder retail investors can be confused by all the fluff which the expert analysts and the mainstream media tell them.
11 years ago