Surveys can be a rich source of information, including not only factual questions, but asking about attitudes, behaviours, and activities.
Factor analysis is a statistical technique that combines questions that are related (correlated) into a smaller number of factors, to create more robust measures.
In this blog we show factor analysis in action.
There are lots of ways in which artificial intelligence can be unfair in its decision making. In this blog we discuss this so-called "algorithmic bias", motivated by a particularly visible example that recently made the news - when UK A level grades were calculated using an algorithm since students were unable to sit exams due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
read moreResearch published recently by the University of Bristol shows that analysis of school performance results change when pupils' background characteristics are taken into account. Commenting on the study, the Northern Powerhouse says that "league tables punish and reward the wrong schools". This study supports our findings from a previous blog, but also illustrates the importance of carefully considering what is included in a statistical model.
read moreA recent article in the Guardian newspaper reports on a study published last month that looks at parents' responses to news from the Ofsted inspection of their child's school. Aside from the eye-catching headline, we found a number of aspects of this study interesting.
read moreUnderstanding the outputs from a model can sometimes be daunting. In this post, we show how we can convert the outputs from a multinomial logistic regression to gain more easily interpretable insights from the model.
read moreIn the fields of education and psychology a frequent ambition is measurement. A statistical technique called Item Response Theory can be used to measure human behaviours and traits which are not directly measurable, such as confidence, ability and resilience.
read moreA recent article in the Guardian newspaper reports new research highlighting that disadvantage is the main factor affecting student outcomes. Not only does this concur with our results from a recent blog, but it highlights how important both the type of analysis conducted and the clarity of reporting is to enable others to evaluate the often conflicting findings based on data.
read moreIn a previous post, we discussed how to analyse categorical data with two outcomes using logistic regression model. Here we extend the logistic regression model to the case of an outcome with more than two categories.
read moreThe Department for Education regularly publishes data on schools and the characteristics of their pupils. Previous analyses have shown regional differences in GCSE performance, but is there really a North/South divide?
read moreA recent BBC article discussed an apparent north-south divide in GCSE attainment. We've investigated these data in more detail to find out whether there is statistical evidence of this divide and whether it has changed over time.
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