Seeing differently
Reading data honestly and differing perceptions.
- Level
- Bitesize
- Learning time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Where
- Understanding Data and Data Analysis
- Price
- £39
When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Read the full terms
Certificate of Completion
Overview and Outcomes.
Overview
Most misreading of data is not deliberate; it comes from ordinary habits such as trusting an average or reacting to the latest month. This module looks at what averages hide, Walter Shewhart and W. Edwards Deming on common and special cause variation, four reasons things move together, four ways a sample misleads, five chart traps and Gerd Gigerenzer's natural frequencies, ending with a short check before acting on evidence. Capable, well-intentioned people often read the same figure in quite different ways. This module draws on Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein's work on noise, Dan Kahan's motivated numeracy study, Kahneman's fast and slow thinking and framing effects to explain why, and sets out five lenses every reader brings. It offers six steps of decision hygiene so that a team can read data well together.
What you'll develop
In this Bitesize, you will develop the ability to:
- Distinguish common cause from special cause variation, and explain why reacting to every movement as a signal, which Deming called tampering, makes a stable process worse.
- Identify which of causation, reverse causation, confounding and chance best explains two things moving together, and recognise the four ways a sample can mislead.
- Use plain questions to expose what averages, charts and relative risk figures leave out before you act on them.
- Explain how noise, motivated numeracy, fast thinking and framing lead capable people to read the same data differently.
- Recognise the five lenses of prior beliefs, professional lens, role and stake, identity and experience in your own reading and in others'.
- Apply the six steps of decision hygiene so that a team or board reads data independently before combining views.
The Modules.
1 hour 15 minutes of learning.
- 04Reading Data HonestlyMost misreading of data is not deliberate; it comes from ordinary habits such as trusting an average or reacting to the latest month. This module looks at what averages hide, Walter Shewhart and W. Edwards Deming on common and special cause variation, four reasons things move together, four ways a sample misleads, five chart traps and Gerd Gigerenzer's natural frequencies, ending with a short check before acting on evidence.38 min
- 05The Same Data Point, Seen DifferentlyCapable, well-intentioned people often read the same figure in quite different ways. This module draws on Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein's work on noise, Dan Kahan's motivated numeracy study, Kahneman's fast and slow thinking and framing effects to explain why, and sets out five lenses every reader brings. It offers six steps of decision hygiene so that a team can read data well together.39 min
Keep going.
Part of the Understanding Data and Data Analysis topic, also sold whole as Beyond the dashboard.
Go deeper, and pay only the difference
- You are hereBitesize, 1 hour 15 minutes, £39
- Next stepFocus, Collecting and reading data, 3 hours, £69. Already own the Bitesize? You pay £30.
- Explore, Data and judgement, 6 hours, £129. Already own the Bitesize? You pay £90.
- The whole topicImmerse, Beyond the dashboard, 11 hours, £249. Already own the Bitesize? You pay £210.
When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Prices per person. Read the full terms
Also part of: Leading with data and digital, From data to decisions
Other Bitesize in the Understanding Data and Data Analysis topic
- Method follows the questionData collection methods, types and quality2 hours£39
- When formulas decideSocial meaning and the seduction of objectivity1 hour 15 minutes£39
- Consequences and uncertaintyUnintended consequences and sensemaking with data1 hour 15 minutes£39
- Making sense togetherWhose data, and collective sensemaking methods1 hour 15 minutes£39
- Stories as evidenceQualitative evidence and evaluation in complexity1 hour 15 minutes£39
- Targets and public dataMeasures, dashboards and public data in Wales and the UK1 hour 15 minutes£39