Should MPs be able to understand statistics?

How does that compare with the rest of the population?

PS. My bugbear is the misuse of the word "average".

There may be an even higher proportion in the general population who don't understand statistics but most of them are not responsible for making decisions that affect all of our lives.

Perhaps newly elected MPs should be given a basic course in statistics as part of their induction to the world of legislating.

varian

There may be an even higher proportion in the general population who don't understand statistics but most of them are not responsible for making decisions that affect all of our lives.

Perhaps newly elected MPs should be given a basic course in statistics as part of their induction to the world of legislating.

I think the general standard of most of the "new" intake is abysmal (not only in their understanding of statistics), but - hey - that's democracy. It's very sad.

How many Gransnet posters would get it right?

How many understand it when another poster comments in a post on some statistic that has appeared in the press?

How many would reply, "But I know three people that doesn't apply to, so I don't believe it." ?

Well it's 1 in 2 on the first toss and 1 in 2 on the second. Does that mean it's 1 in 4? Not sure if that is how it's worded.

I can remember mode, mean and median but not anything about probability.

You are right, Mamardoit. Each time you toss them, it could be either heads or tails, so it could take two goes with each coin to get each of them showing a head.

There is another question - You have a drawer full of socks. There are ten pairs of grey ones and ten pairs of brown, but they have all got mixed up. In the dark, how many socks do you have to take out to be sure of having a matching pair (of either colour) ?

Three socks. Statistics are presented in support of so many things and sometimes the same statistics are used to prove/disprove the same point. What should we insist MP’s should be able to do. Manipulating statistics?

The coin one is probability - there is still a possibility you get tails four times running. If you are looking for two heads, it is only at the start of the run of tosses that the chance of two heads turning up is one in four. At each toss there is a one in two chance of heads, so each time you toss, you have a chance of being lucky or unlucky.

The sock one is also probability, but you are not looking specifically for two grey ones, so if you get a brown one first time, you don't mind. The second time, it could also be brown - (good, you now have a pair!) - but it could be grey - (OK, you now have one of each - but on the third go you have a match to one or other of them), so you have a pair at three shots at the most.

MPs should be able to understand how to read, examine and interpret statistics and how to spot the misuse of statistics.

It is very worrying that the government may be about to cancel the ONS covid 19 infection survey which gives a much more accurate measure of infection than the reported figures.

Mollygo They should at least recognise when they are being manipulated, so that they can vote against anything that is going to manipulate the electorate. Maybe each party needs an explainer of statistics who can point out the anomalies to those MPs who have difficulty with the logic of statistics - though they would doubtless be used to obfuscate it more instead of clarifying.

I would prefer it if some of them had some knowledge of science and engineering. With the problems of climate change so iminent. it would be wonderful if some of them actually understood just how polluting the manufacture of electric cars is, if while getting excited about us using electricuty rather than gas for home heating and transport, they actually considered where and how all this extra electricuty is being generated, if they understood the dabgers and difficulties of large battery storage. Who understoof what a stupid idea heat pumps are as an alternative to gas central heating and on and on and on.

I didn't even know that probability was part of statistics ? We didn't go anywhere near that in 1960s O level maths...

I can do percentages and I know mean and median. Shaky on 'mode', though.

Is knowledge of probability vital to being an MP?

TBH, I'd be happy if they actually knew what parliamentary sovereignty meant.

(Or if they knew anything at all, some of them...)

We certainly did statistics in O level maths in 1971 and both my children studied it for GCSE ( remember throwing dice and Elegran's sock question). At the time my daughter did GCSE, maths coursework was till part of the assessment and she did hers on probability based on a booklet of data provided by the exam board.

MaizieD

I didn't even know that probability was part of statistics ? We didn't go anywhere near that in 1960s O level maths...

I can do percentages and I know mean and median. Shaky on 'mode', though.

Is knowledge of probability vital to being an MP?

Yes, because it's vital to understanding how groups work and MPs represent groups.

growstuff

MaizieD

I didn't even know that probability was part of statistics ? We didn't go anywhere near that in 1960s O level maths...

I can do percentages and I know mean and median. Shaky on 'mode', though.

Is knowledge of probability vital to being an MP?

Yes, because it's vital to understanding how groups work and MPs represent groups.

You've lost me, growstuff

What groups, doing what?

MaizieD

TBH, I'd be happy if they actually knew what parliamentary sovereignty meant.

(Or if they knew anything at all, some of them...)

Love it.

We didn’t do stats either in O Level maths. Calculus was my biggest bug bear.

Yes but it's even more important that the electorate does, we are sold so many untruths disguised as statistics!

Foxie48, yes. If the statistics are served up in different ways to support opposing points of view, there’s no chance.
I look at the Covid stats, particularly any with references to different places and the different picture they present. E.g when UK statistics included all parts of the UK, and that’s compared with Wales or Scotland.
It wasn’t till last September that I found a Welsh site where cases per 100,000 showed all 4 countries and England to have the lowest rate out of all 4.

Maths education is so poor in this country that very few people know enough to be able to challenge what they are told. If we all understood maths better we wouldn't have fallen for some of the fear-mongering we've been subjected to recently. We would never expect every 11 year old to have a reading age of 11 and we would understand there is no need for higher rates of tax because a percentage rate already means those who earn more pay more.

Just three of my maths bugbears.

Statistics were in GCSE maths in the mid 90s.

GR15 Just three of my maths bugbears. Got it!

Reading accurately what someone has actually written would be another useful skill for everyone. Those trick "problems" that teachers used to sneak in caught many out. "A squad are adding a fence along a 276 yard stretch. There are posts every one and a half yards and three horizontal rails between the posts, plus a six-foot wide gate partway along the stretch. How many posts are needed? How many rails?"

Yes, I think politicians should be able to comprehend statistics, the Chancellor's budget, the laws of the land and so on.

Or at least be willing to take the advice of the civil servants whose job it is to know these things.