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Data Analysis Australia

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Data Analysis Australia includes expanded versions of our newsletter articles online.

Featured Articles

Imagining Numbers

The famous saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words”, is paralleled by statisticians who might say that a picture can be worth a thousand numbers.  In fact, every day we are presented in newspapers or on television with graphics trying to get across some form of numerical message, but how accurate are these graphics?

The Invisible Statistician

People are often unaware of the impact statisticians have had on our world today. Health, in particular, is an area that has benefited significantly from statistical research behind the scenes.

Statistics In Space

Almost every measurement has a "where" attached to it.  To a statistician these spatial aspects can be critical, not only in understanding the data, but to collecting good data in the first place.  The obvious reason is that the positions themselves may be of interest.

Measuring Our Environment

Although most people agree the environment is important, there is frequent debate about the seriousness of various environmental issues and how to address them. Statistics are a vital tool in measuring environmental changes. Careful research design can help to overcome some of the challenges involved in environmental measurement.

Safety in Numbers

Developing strategies to improve safety is vital in the interest of saving lives. However, different interpretations of statistics on incidents and accidents can have a huge impact in assessing the effectiveness of safety initiatives. The statistician's role is to be able to provide guidance on what can be reliably learnt from year-to-year patterns, and separate out the real changes from those that may happen by chance.

The Value of Information

Today's organisations are data centric, and more often are using operational data for strategic decisions that extend the data's intended purpose. The value of corporate data is often not recognised until it is critical, and then may not be in a state that allows it be used to guide strategy. This article discusses the importance of maintaining good quality data that sits at the heart of corporate information systems and suggests some ways to go about it.

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