Jan
2022

Getting More from your Survey Questions with Factor Analysis

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.

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Oct
2020

What the A Level Grade Scandal Can Show Us about Algorithmic Bias

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.

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May
2016

How Are EU Migrants Represented Across the UK Workforce?

The impact of an EU exit on jobs and employment within the UK has been a major topic of discussion in the run up to the referendum. Following on from our recent article about the movement of people within the EU, in this post we take a closer look at migrants in the UK in order to understand how they are represented across the nation’s workforce.

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May
2016

EU Referendum Polls: Modelling Voting Intention

In our latest blog on the EU referendum we look at fitting a model to the opinion poll results published in the run up to June 23rd. The model highlights how polling companies and practices influence the results and concludes that as of May 24th the probability of the UK remaining in the EU is about 68%.

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Sep
2012

Are Political Changes Making It Harder to Access Official Statistics?

Official Statistics and other open government data are a vital source of information. But how are changes in the political landscape affecting access to these data, and how can organisations ensure that they will still be able to make use of national and local Official Statistics to make evidence-based decisions?

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Jun
2011

Statisticians Are Key to Business Growth and Innovation

Analysing large data sets will become a key basis of competition, says a new report published last week. In the same way that they have always sought professional accounting and legal advice, many industries now see statistical consultancy firms as crucial partners in driving growth and stimulating innovation.

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Mar
2011

Mobile Phone App’s Are In, but High-heeled Sensible Shoes Are Out!

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced today the new basis on which they will be calculating the consumer and retail price indices (CPI and RPI). These indices were first produced in 1948 and are revised each year to provide an indication of the change in price from year to year of the sorts of things that most of us buy on a regular basis.

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