The Open University Statistics Group

presents a one-day conference on

Visualisation and Presentation in Statistics

to be held on

Wednesday May 18^th, 2011

at the Open University in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom.

Statistics interfaces with the wider world in several ways and the perception among statisticians is that the presentation of statistical thought and statistical analysis is often wanting. Problems include insufficient information, distorted (sometimes deliberate) interpretations, misunderstood computer output and biases introduced by poor sampling frames. Major areas where misrepresentation is widely acknowledged include the results of medical research, experimental designs, statistics based on reports in the media, government statistics, and graphical/visual presentation in much of the applied (non-statistical) research literature (e.g. market research). Other major areas include the social and behavioural sciences, and genomics.
In this context, presentation is viewed as not being solely related to visual presentation but concerned with all aspects of how results of research are presented to the public. It is time to debate concerns.
Furthermore, public confidence in official statistics is very low in the United Kingdom - a 2007 survey found it was the lowest in the European Union. Why is this - it does not reflect the quality of the data - and to what extent are perceptions of government interference the cause? How can the situation be improved?

This forms the basis of Visualisation and Presentation in Statistics, the 24^th rather-more-frequent-than-annual Open University statistics conference, which is of interest to both statisticians and users of statistics.

The conference will include 9 invited talks along with an introduction by John C. Gower. We also invite submissions for poster presentations on relevant topics. If you wish to submit a poster for presentation, please complete the relevant section of the registration form. The cost of the conference is £45. This includes registration, lunch and refreshments.

The conference will start at 10.35 a.m. and end at 5.30 p.m. It will take place in the Berrill Lecture Theatre on the main Open University campus at Walton Hall, Milton Keynes.

We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Open University.

Organising committee (in alphabetical order): Sarah Frain, John C. Gower, Sara Griffin, Steffen Unkel.

Timetable

09.30 Registration desk opens
09.30 Coffee and pastries

10.25 Please take your seats in the Berrill Lecture Theatre.
10.35 Opening

10.45–12.30 Session 1 (Chair: Steffen Unkel)
10.45–11.00 John C. Gower: Introduction
11.00 Talk 1 - Michael Blastland: Statistics: a game for two players
11.30 Talk 2 - John Aldrich: Graphs before graphics--some history
12.00 Talk 3 - David Spiegelhalter: Visualising risk and uncertainty: the power of movement

12.30–14.00 Lunch + posters

14.00–15.30 Session 2 (Chair: C. Paddy Farrington)
14.00 Talk 4 - Kevin J. McConway: Statistics in the media: publicity, entertainment and wallpaper
14.30 Talk 5 - Martin Bland: Reporting clinical trials with confidence
15.00 Talk 6 - Rosemary A. Bailey: Bad statistics

15.30–16.00 Tea and biscuits + posters

16.00–17.30 Session 3 (Chair: Kevin J. McConway)
16.00 Talk 7 - Michel van de Velden: Perceptual maps: the good, the bad and the ugly
16.30 Talk 8 - Tony Hirst: Visualisations for the rest of us - How to create rich interactive visualisations without any of the pain
17.00 Talk 9 - Jill Leyland: The lack of confidence in UK official statistics - are communication problems responsible? - And what can be done?

17.30 Close of conference

Registration and further information

• Registration (is now closed)
• Information for presenters
• Travel information and maps


• Accommodation in Milton Keynes
  
• The Open University Statistics Group