Opt-in Polls: Bad Data, Bad Science, and Bad Actors
I was perusing the usual collage of semi-news, trivia, and fluff on CollingwoodToday recently and noticed a poll at the bottom asking “How old are you?” It piqued my interest…
statistics
Gender Gap, 2004-2014 #nlpoli
In 2004, the median income for men in Newfoundland and Labrador was $10,000 higher than the median income for women. By 2014, the gap in median income between men and…
Does anyone still read books?
I came across an early version of this infographic on Facebook and it shook me to my core. You can see it here. The updated and corrected infographic is shown…
Know The Risks
Humans are really good at pattern recognition but really bad at figuring out which patterns actually matter. This impacts how we live as individuals and as a collective – be…
Not quite seven signs of the apocalypse
A 2014 story on Salon, titled 7 things Americans think are more plausible than man-made global warming made its way around Facebook again, recently. It lists seven statistics about things…
Maternal mortality #nlpoli
Black women in the United States are twice as likely to die as a result of complications of pregnancy and childbirth as are white and Hispanic Americans, according to new…
Crime Severity Indices, St. John’s #nlpoli
This week, Statistics Canada released their latest compilation of crime statistics based on reports by police. The figures in the release were year to year but if you hunt around…
Hockey on the Side: Shocker, great teams get great stats
I’ve had some fun slipping the occasional non-politics related post into this politics blog like some of my old piano recordings or the newer Tech on the Side series. Covering…
Reading: A Canadian tragedy… or not?
The map above might show the making of a serious tragedy for Western and especially Canadian culture. It indicates in colour which nations read the most. Yellow is the second…
BC Is Actually “Missing” More Than 94,000 Jobs #SpinAlert
It’s not unusual to see unemployment rates of around 6-8% these days. But if you have always had the feeling that more than one in sixteen people is unemployed, you’re…
Who’s Driving? A Response to 4Front Atlantic’s GPS for Atlantic Canada
What we are all looking for…is the readymade, competent man ; the man whom some one else has trained. It is only when we fully realize that our duty, as…
Snapshot of Genocide
An excerpt from Loic Wacquant’s Punishing the Poor: The Neoliberal Government of Social Insecurity (Duke University Press 2009), pages 59-73: The Gaols of the Subproletariat: An Experimental Verification It suffices,…
The Long Form Census Debacle Starts to Show Its Impact
As predicted the dropping of the mandatory long form census last year is starting to be felt in the statistical results being collected. First problem: Language Data. New language data…
The Long Form Census Debacle Starts to Show Its Impact
As predicted the dropping of the mandatory long form census last year is starting to be felt in the statistical results being collected. First problem: Language Data. New language data…
‘Hipster’ is not a real job. Neither is not having a job.
Last week, the CCPA released a report (authored by yours truly) about youth un- and underemployment in Canada. It showed that, while youth unemployment in Canada is not insubstantial –…
Canada Is Missing The Poverty Line
Canada is holding out its hands asking for change, our country is in poverty and it needs our help. Where other countries are working to reduce their poverty like responsible…
Let’s not get carried away with Helicopter Parents
University and college classes start today for one of the most cash-strapped, debt-burdened, under-employed cohorts of post-secondary students this country has ever seen. But that’s not the story. Instead, on…
“Gotta Spend Money to Make Money”… or is it “Make Money to Save Money?”
“Young people want to retire early and spend, too”. That’s the main finding of a survey commissioned by the Bank of Montreal, released today in newspapers across the country. The…
Statistics Canada: Crime rate reached its lowest level in 40 years in 2011
The evidence on the crime rate in Canada is out! Statistics Canada reported yesterday that rate of crimes reported to Canadian police forces across the country reached its lowest level…
How to Eliminate Tuition Fees (and do it right)
Quebec student group CLASSE has come forward with an offer of what it would take to end their almost four-month strike: the elimination of tuition fees by 2016. The plan…