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27 - Critical statistical literacy and interactive data visualisations
- Edited by Jeff Evans, Middlesex University, Sally Ruane, De Montfort University, Leicester, Humphrey Southall, University of Portsmouth
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- Book:
- Data in Society
- Published by:
- Bristol University Press
- Published online:
- 30 April 2022
- Print publication:
- 21 August 2019, pp 349-358
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- Chapter
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Summary
Introduction: conceptions of statistical literacy
One can trace advocacy for what we might now call ‘critical statistical literacy’ (CSL) at least as far back as the eighteenth century. Writing early in the French Revolution, Condorcet (1792/1994) proposed the idea of savoir liberateur – knowledge about governance and social inequality that would engage citizens, and would motivate them to reconstruct society. Perhaps the most prominent recent advocate has been Hans Rosling (Rosling et al, 2018), the prime mover behind Gapminder.
We have been working on a project designed to promote ‘civic statistics’ in high school and undergraduate courses. It has produced a tool for analysing tasks, assessment systems and curricula in terms of the coverage of critical statistical literacy (Ridgway et al, 2018). Eleven key facets of civic statistics have been identified: many of these are omitted from conventional courses (such as critical evaluation and reflection, disposition to engage, fluency with Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and extensions in official statistics). The most important facet is meaning for social policy; this facet calls on all the others. It reflects an ability to propose an evidence-informed approach to some pressing social problem. Any proposal will involve critical analysis of available evidence; sources, the nature of the data collected, and its likely robustness; notions of risk; probabilities, utilities, costs and the like; and consideration of possible unintended consequences. For the purposes of this chapter, we largely focus on two facets: contextual civic knowledge, and ICT and search.
Contextual civic knowledge is essential to debates on social issues. In order to model any phenomenon, one needs a good understanding of the context in which it is set. Is ‘an extra £1 billion’ a lot or a little in the context of the National Health Service's annual budget? In the context of the annual allocation to social science research? Contextual civic knowledge includes facts such as sizes of populations, GDP (Gross Domestic Product), debt and deficit, and demographics. At a higher level, it includes an understanding of communication channels and governance. ICT and search refers to the need to be able to access data from the vast array that is available, and to work effectively with (and critique) the emerging plethora of interactive data visualisations (IDV).
Geochemistry and related studies of Clyde Estuary sediments
- David G. Jones, Christopher H. Vane, Solveigh Lass-Evans, Simon Chenery, Bob Lister, Mark Cave, Joana Gafeira, Gareth Jenkins, Alick Leslie, Neil Breward, Katy Freeborough, Ian Harrison, Alexander W. Kim, Alicja Lacinska, Tony Milodowski, John Ridgway, Jim Riding, Mick Strutt, Doris Wagner, Ian Wilkinson
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- Journal:
- Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh / Volume 108 / Issue 2-3 / June 2017
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 13 November 2018, pp. 269-288
- Print publication:
- June 2017
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- Article
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Geochemical and related studies have been made of near-surface sediments from the River Clyde estuary and adjoining areas, extending from Glasgow to the N, and W as far as the Holy Loch on the W coast of Scotland, UK. Multibeam echosounder, sidescan sonar and shallow seismic data, taken with core information, indicate that a shallow layer of modern sediment, often less than a metre thick, rests on earlier glacial and post-glacial sediments. The offshore Quaternary history can be aligned with onshore sequences, with the recognition of buried drumlins, settlement of muds from quieter water, probably behind an ice dam, and later tidal delta deposits. The geochemistry of contaminants within the cores also indicates shallow contaminated sediments, often resting on pristine pre-industrial deposits at depths less than 1m. The distribution of different contaminants with depth in the sediment, such as Pb (and Pb isotopes), organics and radionuclides, allow chronologies of contamination from different sources to be suggested. Dating was also attempted using microfossils, radiocarbon and 210Pb, but with limited success. Some of the spatial distribution of contaminants in the surface sediments can be related to grain-size variations. Contaminants are highest, both in absolute terms and in enrichment relative to the natural background, in the urban and inner estuary and in the Holy Loch, reflecting the concentration of industrial activity.