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-millionairesregional-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 Outcomes
Are 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