David Walker Statistical reporting All Conservative Labour Agree

David Walker

Statistical reporting All Conservative Labour Agree Disagree % % % I generally feel confident when dealing with numbers 77 7 76 6 72 11 Politicians use official statistics and figures accurately when talking about their policies 28 40 17 38 30 47 Newspapers and television channels report statistics accurately 15 57 13 66 18 53 Q. How strongly do you agree or disagree with each of the statements? Base: All MPs (97), Conservative MPs (41) and Labour MPs (44) asked, Winter 2011

• • The Smith Inquiry on Post-14 Mathematics (2004) • • A Higher Degree of Concern, Study by The Royal Society (2008) • • Review of Strategically Important and Vulnerable Subjects HEFCE (2005) • • Is the UK an outlier? Hodgen et al (2010) • • Scoping Study to Identify Quantitative Methods Capacity Building Needs in Wales - Final Report Lynch et al (2007) • • Scoping Study to Identify Quantitative Methods Capacity Building Needs in Scotland – Final Report Mc. Vie et al (2008) • • Adding It Up: a Performance and Innovation Unit Report (2000) • • Demographic Review of the UK Social Sciences Mills et al (2006) • • International Benchmarking Review of UK Sociology ESRC (2010)

MPs’ ability to calculate probabilities Probability of getting two heads % All MPs 15% 2 25% 40 Incorrect answer / 47% DK Correct 53% answer 40% 1 50% 45 23% 75% 1 Other Don't know Correct answer 5 7 Incorrect 77% answer / DK Q. If you spin a coin twice, what is the probability of getting two heads? Base: All MPs (97), Conservative MPs (41) and Labour MPs (44) asked, Winter 2011

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