test Archives - Significance magazine

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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

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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…

Sylvia RichardsonFebruary 8, 2021

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

COVID-19 Screening Checkpoint at Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge, Alberta

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Scientific inquiry into poetry

In a recent article I reported the results of the internet-test, where the takers had…

Mikhail SimkinJune 24, 2013

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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

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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