Abstract

A distinguished panel of producers, users and communicators of official statistics discuss how uncertainty is, could, and should be communicated.

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We can never be certain about facts and figures and yet there seems to be an almost universal push for certainty in society. It is often said that politicians, media and the wider public are uncomfortable with ambiguity and demand simple solutions to precisely defined problems.

There are concerns that trying to communicate uncertainty will undermine people’s trust, and make it more difficult to reach decisions. But could the opposite be true? Could a greater effort to communicate uncertainty improve the quality of policy making and public discourse? Panellists

Chaired and hosted by Sir David Spiegelhalter, Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, guest speakers include: Sir David Norgrove, Chair of the UK Statistics Authority; and Amanda Farnsworth, Head of Visual and Data Journalism, BBC News.