Synthesising sources: opening open data for decision making

Organizers

• James Nicholson (United Kingdom)
• James Ridgway (United Kingdom)

Description

The Open Data movement presents challenges and opportunities for statistics education. Statistics educators need to find ways to encourage intelligent use of Open Data. Non-traditional forms of data representation can offer insights as data are explored, and can make insights from more formal analyses intelligible to those with little training in statistics.

It is likely that we can make a contribution to adult statistical literacy by empowering (and educating) people who influence decision makers with new tools that bring data to life. Lack of information is rarely a problem for policy makers – there is a huge quantity of evidence relevant to almost every decision to be made – typical problems are: access; comprehension; and communication.

The workshop will begin with a case history based on a collaboration with a political scientist researching migration between different London Boroughs. His central interest was on the factors associated with migration into and away from areas of high ethnic diversity. The case history illustrates two important themes: using data from one source to develop a measure (“ethnic diversity”) which is then used to facilitate exploration of a second data set; and using interactive graphics to make complex analyses accessible to audiences of decision makers and journalists.

The workshop will provide an opportunity to explore other interactive multivariate displays and we will conclude with a tutorial session on how to upload your own data into our interactive displays. If you have some interesting data to explore, please contact us now!

Bring your own laptop.

For questions and additional information, contact organizer Jim Ridgway.