Why Numbers Matter in Everyday Life

Learning Outcomes

Completion of this session will enable you to:• appreciate that numbers are a critical

component of everyday life• understand how numbers can be created,

represented and interpreted in social life• explore how quantification of an issue can

help us understand a complex issue• learn some basic statistical concepts

Before we begin………

I Couldn’t Live Without My Mobile Phone

• Talk to the person beside you about what influenced your choice of mobile phone

• How did you know whether you were getting good value for money?

• How did you make comparisons between different deals?

Quiz Time!

• What gender are you:

Male

Female

Quiz Time!

• What age are you:

Under 18yrs 26yrs – 29yrs

18yrs-21yrs 30yrs - 33yrs

22yrs-25yrs Over 34yrs

Quiz Time!

• How did you travel to class today:

Walk Cycle

Bus Car – drive self

Train Car - lift

Quiz Time!

• Which of these supermarkets did you last shop in:

Asda M&S Waitrose

Co-op Sainsburys Morrisons

Lidl Tesco Aldi

Quiz Time!• What day of the week did you last shop in the

supermarket:

Monday Thursday

Tuesday Friday

Wednesday Saturday

Sunday

Quiz Time!

• Which of these supermarkets do you have a loyalty card for:

M&S

Sainsburys

Tesco

Who wins with supermarket loyalty cards?

• 85% of the UK population have a supermarket loyalty card• A year after Tesco introduced the Clubcard, card holders

were spending 28% more in Tesco and 16% less in Sainsburys (who then introduced their own loyalty card)

• In 2009 15million Tesco customers received £259 million in vouchers

• 80% of supermarket profits come from 20% of customers• At Tesco’s if you spend £100 per week (£5200 per year)

you will earn £104 a year in grocery vouchers or £312 worth of Clubcard rewards.

Who wins with supermarket loyalty cards?

One supermarket was reported to have spotted a trend for fathers to come into stores on their way home from work on a Friday, in order to buy nappies for their children.

As a result, the store placed six-packs of beer on the adjacent shelves, and found that the sales of beer went up.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8505031.stm

The Joy of Stats

http://www.gapminder.org/videos/the-joy-of-stats/

Definitions• Number: a unit of measurement• Statistic: a numerical value or number• Quantification: the act of counting and

measuring that maps observations and experiences into members of some set of numbers

• Statistics: the study of the collection, organisation, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of numbers

Where do the Millionaires Live?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2012/sep/13/money-uk-multi-millionaires-regional-breakdown

Have GCSE Rates Changed?

Hate Crime in England and Wales

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2012/sep/13/hate-crime-map-england-wales

Using Numbers To Quantify

Using Numbers to Describe

Using Numbers to Explain

Social Construction of Statistics• Definition of an act as a crime

- by an individual, by society- for example, speeding

• Detection of that act- was it reported?- to whom?

• Response to the act- warning v prosecution

• Recording of the act

The Example of Educational Outcomes and Ethnicity

• 65% of pupils in primary and secondary schools in London are of ‘ethnic minority’ background

• Groups long considered underachievers include in particular Pakistani, Bangladeshi and African Caribbean, although more recent studies have also identified similar educational problems among Somali and Turkish-speaking pupils.

• In 2003, for example, roughly 70% of African Caribbean pupils left school with less than five higher grade GCSEs or their equivalents. This represents the lowest level of achievement for any ethnic group of school children

The Statistical Picture is Complicated

Factors Influencing Educational Outcomes

• Language skills- English as an acquired language seems to have an impact for some BME groups more than others

• Poverty- more pupils in London are entitled to free school meals: 25% of primary school children and 22% of secondary school children, compared to national averages of 13%. On average, pupils entitled to free schools meals have lower levels of attainment than others.

• Level of ‘churn’ within schools- about 14% of Inner London pupils change schools in an average year, as do 6% of Outer London pupils, compared to 5% elsewhere.

• Expectations of pupils- black boys are three times more likely than other pupils to be excluded from school. One factor is that their family background or street culture makes them badly behaved. The other is that schools treat them differently. largely unwitting but systematic racial discrimination in the application of disciplinary and exclusions policies

Learning OutcomesAre you able to:• appreciate that numbers are a critical

component of everyday life• understand how numbers can be created,

represented and interpreted in social life• explore how quantification of an issue can

help us understand a complex issue• understand some basic statistical concepts