How ideas from decision theory can help guide our actions
Photo by Jan Genge on UnsplashThe UK is currently experiencing an infection wave following the…
Sylvia Richardson and David SpiegelhalterAugust 11, 2021
Vaccine rollouts, school testing and contact tracing could all be improved – here’s how
Photo by Steven Cornfield on UnsplashA bitter lesson of the past month is that viruses…
Controlling the spread of coronavirus via repeat testing and isolation
Photo by Jakayla Toney on UnsplashWhat to do about Covid? With nearly 60 million cases…
Joseph T. Chang and Edward H. KaplanNovember 25, 2020
Leicester makes history in testing times
Photo by Geoffrey HaywardLeicester made demographic history as the first city in England where the…
Sheila M. BirdJuly 23, 2020
Getting out of lockdown in the UK – slowly, with robust reporting standards, and important intelligence about new infections
Much is expected from the UK’s symptomatic Test and Trace system (sT&T), and all of us must…
Sheila M. BirdJune 16, 2020
Comparing and assessing Covid-19 tests
Image created by Russell TateThis article explores what people mean when they talk about testing…
Nathan GreenMay 19, 2020
To infer or not to infer: the UK’s inadequate public disclosure of Covid-19 swab test results
The World Health Organization asks governments to consider two questions when carrying out risk assessments…
Sheila M. BirdMay 5, 2020
Bayes’ theorem and Covid-19 testing
Photo by Graham Ruttan on UnsplashI’m writing this article from the country with more confirmed…
Michael A. LewisApril 22, 2020
Covid-19 data: To age or not to age; to date or not to date?
Pandemic swine-flu, which emerged from Mexico in spring 2009, was a wild thing but a…
Sheila M. BirdApril 22, 2020
Why we need more coronavirus tests than we think
Photo by Vincent Ghilione on UnsplashIn the US, President Trump has said that testing for…
James J. CochranApril 9, 2020
The Promise: When truth overshadows power
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is a prestigious event and a hot-spot for finding…
Levon DemirdjianDecember 11, 2017
How to explain screening test outcomes
Consider the following problem: “The serum test screens pregnant women for babies with Down's syndrome.…
Tim BrockApril 27, 2017
Ask a statistician: Why can we not predict earthquakes?
Hundreds of people have been killed since the start of the year as a result…
Brian TarranAugust 25, 2016
How Frank Wilcoxon helped statisticians walk the non-parametric path
Part of the job of a statistician is to make inferences about a population from…
Mario Cortina Borja & Julian StanderDecember 7, 2015
Statistical tests: beads for furs?
You have no doubt heard the legend about the Native American tribe being seduced by…
Altea Lorenzo-ArribasAugust 16, 2013
Scientific inquiry into poetry
In a recent article I reported the results of the internet-test, where the takers had…
Mikhail SimkinJune 24, 2013
Statistics against irritations: a response to Dickens’s apologists or If high readership is the test of good writing, then 50 Shades of Grey is a work of genius…
Recently I discussed my article1 which reported the results of the test where the takers…
Mikhail SimkinMay 7, 2013
Can you name a female statistician?
We read about statistics every day, be it the predicted winner of a football league,…
Linda WijlaarsMarch 5, 2013
The Silver Linings Chi-Square Playbook
Lately Jennifer Lawrence seems to have a knack for appearing in movies where mathematics is…
Michael A. LewisFebruary 12, 2013
