New mutations of Sars-Cov2 are estimated to be around 50% more infectious, which makes suppressing spread of the virus 50% harder, and herd immunity harder to achieve with vaccination.Continue Reading
Two vaccines – Pfizer and Moderna – have now announced the preliminary results of their Phase III trials. And it’s very good news – the results are very strong, and supported by enough data that they are almost certainly more than 90% effective (VE – vaccine efficacy), with their bestContinue Reading
Read this book, and if you have any influence over data; its collection or its use; think honestly about whether you are considering women as much as men in the way you collect your data. And remember that the more often decision makers reflect the general population (whether by gender or other measures of diversity) the more likely it is that decisions will be good for that diverse population.Continue Reading
I went to a talk this week at my son’s school by Paul Dillon, from Drug and Alcohol research training Australia. I had heard great things about Paul as a speaker, but not the thing that impressed me most – he had great statistics! So time for a blog postContinue Reading
When I’m looking for inspiration for a post, I occasionally wander through the ABS website. If you’ve never tried it – have a look! It’s amazing what you can find there. So the Actuaries Digital editorial team asked me when I was going to post about the census. Sadly theContinue Reading
Last week Ross Gittins wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald that the decades long drift from public to private schools has ended. Figures released by the Bureau of Statistics last month show that 65 per cent of our 3.8 million students went to public schools in 2016, the same proportion asContinue Reading
Last month, I did a bit of analysis of maths study in NSW, which has caused a fair bit of interest in my maths loving friends and colleagues. I analysed the change in maths study over the last 25 years in NSW. Back in 1991, Maths extension 1 (known thenContinue Reading
Inspired by GeekinSydney‘s recent post about HSC subjects, I took a deep dive into HSC study statistics this weekend. What I found was a bit scary for anyone who is looking for a future mathematically inclined workforce. Since 2001, when maths stopped being compulsory, the numbers of students studying mathsContinue Reading
I’ve been challenged by my fellow blogger Geek in Sydney to write about the recent public and private school data from the ABS. The Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday that the Exodus from public to private schools stops. They report, According to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released on Thursday, 65.2Continue Reading
Lately there have been an increasing number of shark attacks off the NSW coast. I’m increasingly having a conversation with friends about why the number of sharks is increasing. But are there more sharks? Or just more shark attacks? First on the shark attacks. In 2015 we have had a hugeContinue Reading