According to this article on the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), researchers have claimed ‘Didcot’, in Oxfordshire, is the most normal town in England. By examining the article, it is made apparent that the Office for National Statistics and the 2011 Census was the reason Didcot was voted the most normal town in England. However, it would be difficult to define the word ‘normal. The article states ‘Didcot town has been crowned the most normal in the county by a group of number crunching statisticians’. Therefore, the article doesn’t represent the population as they didn’t have a say.

By looking at the Office for National Statistics it is made obvious that Oxfordshire country has a medium rate of employment compared to other areas in the South East of England. The town of Didcot is said to have been the closest ‘statistical median’ when it comes to things like age, property ownership and ethnicity. There has not been a sample asking the citizens of Oxfordshire and other counties whether they think their town is ‘normal’. The statistical median doesn’t take into account immigrants, changes in income and changes in employment. People from other parts of the UK have similar employment, ethnicity and house ownership rates.

In the article, the mayor of the town is stating ‘Didcot is a diverse town’ and explaining the reasons why Didcot is the most normal town. The method used for this data is unreliable, as there was no mention of individuals being asked if they think their town in the most normal. Median age, wage and marital status doesn’t cause the town to be branded as normal. The headline cannot be based on the Office for National Statistics as it doesn’t represent the populations opinion. The town may have ‘extraordinary’ facts, but so does most town. Every town in the UK will have people that work hard and get on with their lives, therefore Didcot isn’t different.

Overall, the headline doesn’t reflect on the general population.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-39428314

This story was published by BBC News on 27 of March with the headline ‘Holidays behind 25% of school absences’. The story continued by informing that ‘the number of school days lost due to family holidays in term time is rising’ and that ‘it accounted for a quarter of unauthorised absences from schools in England’. The article was published following the concern that some families saw going away during term-time as an entitlement and as such fines (60$ per child) were not deterrent enough. The data used to support the establishment of more strict rules is taken from the reports published by the Department for Education, however, there seems to be bias in how the values and information is selected for the article.

Accordingly, my first critique to this article is that there is a contradiction between the percentage given in the short headline which is 25% and the percentage given latter on in the story which is 27%. The right value is the one which is claimed in the headline ‘holidays behind 25% of school absences’ because is an approach of the results taken from national statistics reported by the Department for Education. However, in their report 24.7% refers to the total sum of percentages of unauthorised absences, including other reasons. The headline seems to give more importance to absences due to family holidays (which is only 6.7%), when the reason that most contributes to the overall percentage is ‘other unauthorised circumstances’, being 15.1% out of the total unauthorised absences.

Moreover, if we look at the report by the Department for Education we see that the most common reason for absence is illness which accounts for the 57.3% of all absences. This means that the headline of the article ‘term-time holidays: where most children were absent’ is misleading.

Following with the same observation, the second critique is that the information needs to be contextualised. This is important for the broader picture because according to the main data source, overall absence rate has remained broadly stable since 2014/15 and have followed generally downward trend since 2006/07. This would mean that actually the increase of absences due to not agreed family holidays is not as detrimental as the article tries to show. In addition, the percentage of unauthorised absences have decreased from 55.7 in 2014/15 to 53.8 in 2015/16. This means that if we only look at the regions selected for the article, we are given just a piece of information. Since those regions are selected in accordance to their biggest percentage rise in term-time family holidays we cannot consider them to be representative enough of the whole England. The article should have included regions where the rates of student absence is lower.

Another information that is not told in the article is the number of students that have been enrolled last year. As it is described in the report, the absence rates are affected by the number of students enrolled each year. This would mean that since the number of students has increased from 6,411,085 in 2011 to 6,737,190 in 2016, the values presented have increased as well.

All in all, this article could have been more specific in its claims because the data source  used is not biased but the conclusions extracted from it can be misleading if important information is omitted.

Source:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39380529

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/602320/SFR14_2017_Text.pdf

This statistic was collected from the Health Survey for England in 2015. A BMI calculation was carried out on individuals which gives an overall measurement of their ideal weight. This causes complications because BMI words by analyzing excess weight rather than excess body fat, indicating that some individuals may generate a higher BMI than expected however due to their weight such as muscle rather than fat. This is therefore not an appropriate form of measurement because it does not give an indication towards whether people have excess fat, which people would assume from the title. The ages of individuals were not included within the statistic which could alter results. This is because a person’s age could affect their weight severely, therefore possibly placing them into an incorrect category. The statistic was gained from people over 16, which causes generalizing issues because usually a person is considered an adult over 18 years of age, therefore the proportion of sixteen to eighteen-year olds within the sample could alter results. The occupations of individuals were not given which may affect the results because some occupations may cause for individuals to be heavier, therefore a higher BMI which indicates obesity, for example within some sports. It is also stated within the source that the rate of increase has been slowed down since 2001, at 36-39%. This then indicates that obesity has not suddenly become a problem however has been at this level for over fifteen years. A more appropriate headline would be ‘obesity has increased by 36-39% since 2001.

https://www.noo.org.uk/NOO_about_obesity/adult_obesity/UK_prevalence_and_trends

The article highlights the correlation between happiness and stress levels and individual’s financial situation. The sample of 5,800 were surveyed by the Telegraph and Channel 5 however it does not reveal the way that the survey was distributed, whether it was online or postal for example which impacts the results because some individuals may not have completed the survey if it was online if they did not have access to a device which would allow them to do it electronically, or if people did not have time or didn’t care enough to complete a postal survey. Also, with a sample of 5,800 individuals, this is a large enough sample the can formulate the results, however the specifics of this sample were not mentioned such as gender, age, class and ethnicity who would all reveal different answers to what they’re preferred leisure activities were and whether these can be generalised to the rest of the population. It is also difficult to exactly specify what makes people happy because this is a subjective opinion which differs for each person so formulating one specific definition is difficult. In terms of the individual’s financial situation, the survey generalised the salary of those individuals from entire regions will not be the same and cannot reflect everyone and their financial situation and how this affects their happiness. Subsequently, we can question the accuracy and reliability of how the researchers can confidently correlate the two and be certain this is the definite answer.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/rich-house-poor-house/where-is-happiest-region-in-uk/

In the article, it states that 2/3 of students believe that there should be a second referendum based on the terms of the Brexit deal. The report says the findings are based on research carried out by the National Union of Students (NUS), having asked 2,685 UK students between the ages of 16 and 24. Having looked at the NUS research they do back up what the news report is saying, however there is no information given to us about the sample, we are just told that they are UK students between the ages of 16 and 24 which is very vague. Plus, in the sample they have used 2,685 students however, there are millions of students in the UK so it is unclear whether these findings are not only accurate but also representative. Finally, in the research article they do not state what questions they asked the students they interviewed so there is no way of finding out whether the findings they are stating are actually what they asked the students involved in the research.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-second-referendum-eu-students-two-thirds-a7662081.html and https://www.nus.org.uk/en/news/two-thirds-of-students-back-referendum-on-final-terms-of-brexit-deal/?load=5&top=345

The article published by ‘The Mirror’, claims that students at the University of Brighton have the most sexual partners, seeing “those studying on the south coast bed 10.59 people in their time at university according to top a new survey.” And compares this on a chart to other universities in the country, namely Queen Mary London, Southampton Solent, Liverpool Hope and The University of Chester. In addition to this the article mentions that students of Bath Spa sleep with 2.57 people on average during their time at university (though they do not feature on the chart).

In short, while the data provided correlates to the data collected by the surveys creator “StudentBeans”, the data used throughout this article as evidence is extremely unreliable, despite the article claiming that 6000 responses were gained from the survey “The University Sex League”, the article and the data itself fail to detail how many students at each university were asked. For example, if one student from Brighton had an average number of 10 partners, their average as a collective will be substantially higher than say a university where 5 people got asked, 3 students had 12 partners and 2 students had 3. This as a result makes the data provided invalid and thus fails to support the claim made by the article. In addition to this the article further touches on the course where students have the most partners and the data is collected the same way, with no telling of how many students were asked resulting invalid data.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/student-sex-survey-shows-brighton-3588128

This headline is from the Independent Online claiming that there are certain jobs that people have that can have a higher suicide risk amongst men and women.  This research was done by the Office for National Statistics regarding the Public Health Sector based on an analysis of the 2015 registered suicide rates in England.  The sub-headline claims that suicide risk amongst care workers of both genders is almost twice the national average.  The national average is 10.8 per 100,000 which I have taken from the National Statistics link that is attached to the article. However it is not made clear on the website where the national rate is and the article has not explicitly quoted it anywhere. This rate is an important number to include in this article, therefore there is missing data from the article that should be there.

However by calculating the statistics claiming that care workers facing a suicide risk is almost twice the national average is correct. By looking on the National Statistics website you can see that in care workers from both genders it is calculated to around 20 per 100,000 which were nearly twice as much as the national average. Everything else in the article is very accurate as it is directly quoted from the National Statistics website and matches up with the numbers on their graphs.  The headline and sub headline are accurate and there isn’t anything in them that could mislead anyone when reading.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/jobs-highest-risk-suicide-men-women-revealed-depression-mental-health-a7634746.html

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/suicidebyoccupation/england2011to2015

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/nearly-one-in-two-british-muslims-believe-anti-western-preaching-is-in-line-with-mainstream-islam-10068576.html

Upon finding this statistic, it was instantly clear that the headline is misleading. Only 1,000 people were asked in the survey and therefore, the sample is too small to be representative of the whole Muslim population. According to ONS, there were 3,046,607 Muslims living in the UK in 2014 (ONS, 2016). Therefore, it cannot be claimed that one in four British Muslims have sympathy with Charlie Hebdo gunmen because if they had a bigger sample size it is likely that the result would not have been the same. Furthermore, by finding the actual survey online I found that 95% of the Muslims who participated in the survey, feel loyalty towards Britain. The headline is therefore again misleading because it fails to mention that the majority of those asked also felt loyalty to Britain as well as showing sympathy for the Charlie Hebdo gunmen, therefore they are simply highlighting the negative results regarding Muslims who participated. They also only asked the Muslim population about their opinions on the gunmen and no other religions. Therefore, there is no evidence that the rest of the British population would not agree with the question asked.

In conclusion, this headline conveys the wrong message about British Muslims and makes it seem as though all Muslims sympathise with terrorism. The headline could be made appropriate if it stated ‘1000 Muslims were surveyed, ¼ of them had some sympathy for the Charlie Hebdo gunmen, however 95% of them felt loyalty to Britain’. This would give a more accurate description of the survey results and would not suggest that all British Muslims sympathise with terrorists.

References

ONS, 2016. Home Employment and labour market People in work Employment and employee types Annual Population Survey Data for England, Wales and selected Local Authorities showing total population, and those who reported their religion as Muslim. [Online]
Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/adhocs/005254annualpopulationsurveydataforenglandwalesandselectedlocalauthoritiesshowingtotalpopulationandthosewhoreportedtheirreligionasmuslimfortheperiods2011to2014
[Accessed 3 April 2017].

Steer clear of the Heart of Dixie: Alabama named the most stressed state in America

Article summary:

• Alabama was named America’s most stressed state in an annual report
• It scored the worst in categories of strain from work, money, family and health
• Meanwhile Minnesota was ranked first as the country’s least stressed state 

   

  Feed URL: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4375894/Alabama-named-stressed-state-Ameica.html

  Steer clear of the Heart of Dixie: Alabama named the most … www.dailymail.co.uk A recent study from WalletHub has ranked Alabama as the most stressed state in the US. Meanwhile, Minnesota took the top grade as the least stressed state.

  The data presented in this article is collected by the organisation U.S. WalletHub and I simply went on their website and looked at the table presented to check that the data was accurate. The table ranked all US states by total stress combined, work related stress, money related stress, family related stress and health and safety related stress. Based on total stress combined, Alabama was ranked most stressed city in America. The methodology used to produce this data set was looking at 33 different metrics within each category, with each metric having a scale from 1 to 100. I believe that the scale of choice is too large especially as the average points achieved was under 5 points, if a smaller number range was chosen then it would also help prevent really skewed data and give us a more accurate picture of the stress levels within each state.

  I would not consider this article ‘statistical nonsense’ as the data presented does show us that Alabama is the most stressed state in America but rather that the method used in the research be improved upon to give us more accurate data.

African American men are falling behind their peers in the classroom. PBS reports only 54% of African Americans graduate from high school, compared to more than 75% of their Caucasian and Asian American peers.

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/04/10/troubling-statistics-for-african-american-males-in-the-classroom/

When checking the data to ensure that the data represented is correct, I looked at the statistic that ‘54% of African Americans graduate from high school’ suggesting low achievement for those in education. To figure out if this information was correct, I searched the internet for the official American statistics in regards to African American Achievement of graduation in high school. The official American statistical website is the ‘National Centre for education statistics’, in which the statistics show that African Americans take up 73% of graduates from 2013-14. Therefore, the official statistics suggest that the statistics in the article are false. This creates a false perception of the amount of African American graduates, suggesting that the figure is lower than the actual amount. The method’s that have gone into producing the headline are incorrect as they have accessed their information from an organisational blog (http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/04/10/troubling-statistics-for-african-american-males-in-the-classroom/ ). This is not appropriate as it does not provide official governmental statistics or evidence from a source that is official, as evidence to where this figure has been accumulated from.

Overall this headline is misleading and conveys the wrong message. To create an alternative headline which would more accurately reflect research findings; it would be appropriate to change the figure in the headline to ‘73’. However, the aim of the headline is to suggest a poor achievement of African Americans and this would not achieve its aim.