Contents


Here's the suite of resources on the elements of data, analysis, performance and strategy.  Whichever end of this spectrum is the starting pint - data driven strategy or strategy driven data - or whichever elements are the driving ones, then these should provide some structure and rigour. 


Please do use and develop, and to that end are provided under non-commercial attributable Creative Commons licence.  I'd be interested to know how you get on.



Statistics Views -  Summit

As part of the International Year of Statistics, earth's greatest academics get together to ponder the future for the worlds of stats.  So presentations, workshops and discussions.  Here's my take on some of the bigger generic messages that emerged.

UK Statistical Policy Landscape

My infographic that I put together to map out the UK's stats policy landscape.  Really as an indicative guide with clusters of activity and links between them, demonstrating the scale, complexity and pace.





International Year of Statistics 

So 2013 is the International Year of Statistics.  A year of events across the (mostly western) world.  Celebrating the achievements and looking ahead.







Statistical Steerage

As the UK Statistics Authority changes it's Chair, this is a summary of the the areas of activity and influence.


Data Directive Decade

The last decade saw a dawning of headline guidance from all the big players on best practice data management for the public sector. [06.04.12]





Projects - Management & Delivery

Unpacking simple headline dimensions in project management - balancing management and delivery and then visibility and effectiveness. [30.03.12]















99% Disambiguation

Proportionality in practice. Just how representative are those grand and overt Ads.  Some simple measurement to put them in their proper place.    [31.12.11]










I Am what I Am

A ready-reconner to help get to grips with the Jung based Myers-Briggs Personality Type, one of the more common workplace tools for clarifying underlying personal preferences in four key dimensions. [30.12.11]






Project Traction

An important distinction between the generic tools of projects which help provide the drive and traction, and the delivery of real outputs.  [27.12.11]








Here are some helpful observations on presenting and understanding risk....approaching risk, the numbers, evidence, consensus and tools.  [09.08.11]









Meeting…. defined as the act or process of coming together as an assembly for a common purpose.  Some more effective than others.  Try this test...on the continuum from "nightclub style" to "bookclub" style.    [27.06.11]








Here's a data framework that really puts the data quality at it's heart.  Built around five specific standards or corporate requirements, which then deliver six attributes of data quality. [26.05.11]






What's in a decision.   Comes down to judgement, and that's a combination of evidence (or information) and the evaluation (or analysis) of that evidence.  [17.05.11]






Emphasising the importance of context to  interpretation. Simple examples illustrate the meaning can be quite different based on different circumstances.  [28.04.11]


A communication mechanism is the means to connect messages to people, often in a multidimensional way. Here’s a framework for project comms which can  help identify, clarify and structure those multi-dimensional situations.  [07.04.11]







Providing some sense of order to management matters...a strategic one page overview.....maybe even a "tool to manage management tools”.  [31.03.11]



The joint guidance from the National Audit Office, Audit Commission, Office for National Statistics, Cabinet Office and HM Treasury.  Here the parts are summarised and the big picture distilled. [23.03.11]






Do numbers really speak for themselves?  Sometimes. Mostly it's the words that really speak.  So here's a dip into my collection of statistically related quotes.  So can these words capture the essence of the world of numbers? [15.03.11]


In the world of analysis there are usually some inputs (data), process (analysis) and outputs (products).  But the real purpose for all of this is about achieving understanding and insight in the minds of others.   So here’s the overall road map for the journey, through data, analysis, and the often plentiful outputs to insight. [10.03.11]


There are real similarities in language between cooking and data analysis….to extend this similarity it’s quite possible to consider the analysis process to be just like a food recipe…. some ingredients, a process to work with those ingredients, to create something to bring out the best in those ingredients, even sensual heaven. [03.03.11]
  



Data smoothing is one way that’s been used to look for underlying patterns .  A typical approach being to smooth data over time, maybe smooth monthly data over  a year, to see more macro, perhaps seasonal patterns.   However this can so easily hide also hide all sorts of interesting micro patterns…..  [25.02.11]



In the work of open data we are only starting to see the mix/mash/mesh of the various data, rather lots of data news, visualisation and apps.   But this is not the same as insightful analysis that is distilling and consolidating messages.    Here’s one example of the opportunity to start to make some relevant data connections to establish context, and get that extra insight.....     [18.02.11]



There’s lots of data published, publicised and visualised. But are these just “pretty nice” or “pretty useful”.  Here’s my  “impactometer”,  a simple tool to evaluate effectiveness with more of an eye to analysis, synthesis and impact, and on to improvement, change and even transformation.   [11.02.11]



The official web site of the Prime Minister’s Office has published figures on the web traffic. In fact an exemplar of transparency, until they stopped.  The trend to that point showed a downward trend in pages viewed per visit… [02.02.11]

  



The Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 lead to the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.  A tough “best practice” standard, testing 74 business processes for the satisfactory production of trustworthy statistics.   So here’s the picture take on this, plus some key context such as the status of statistical commentary.  [24.01.11]


We now have the idea of meta data – data about data – well established.  I propose another quite distinct sort of “data about the data”, specifically “sweta” data, the extent to which the data is used.  Usage is now increasingly easily to measure via the web, and as an indicator of value will become more important.  We might even end up with official statistics (usage) about official statistics. [20.01.11]



Busy, busy, busy.  Is ‘right busy’ or ‘wrong busy’?  Right busy is doing the right things in the right way,  wrong busy is anything else.  So this is about planning to be effective (right thing) and to achieve that objective efficiently (right way). With these two dimensions and random luck (rather than planning) that’s a 25% chance of success. … [18.01.11]



My term for a particular interaction possibility and probability, where an explanation of findings is quite possible, but not necessarily the most probable..   [17.01.11]


We have a great set of scalable units for measuring and communicating. Height, weight , weight, speed, money, light, time and so on.   However these are not always applied as sensibly as they might which just creates unnecessary barriers to understanding.   [15.01.11]



Targets are about achieving things in the future. The future is inherently unknown, so targets can be inherently problematic.  Lots of tests of a target (e.g. SMART) but not how to set it.  So here’s a process to set one.  Three stages outlined here, and then weighted for best effect.  [11.01.11]


Lots of data looks straight forward enough. However in any data there will be a number of stages before it gets to be analysed and reported, and where things might go awry to a greater or lesser extent, and which may not be visible or known.   There in is the danger.  So here’s that data journey…a simple 12 step guide in three broad parts. [10.01.11]




·     Bye VFM, Hello BYP
     ·     Age of Analysis
     ·     Comprehensive Spending Perplexity
     ·     Slow Roast Data
     ·     Precisely Wrong?
     ·     Analytical Insight Index
     ·     Inflation Choc Index
     ·     Joy of Stats
     ·     Fiddle Factor
     ·     Data Data Everywhere
     ·     What a Performance
     ·     Bangers and Mash Up
     ·     National Spend Trend
     ·     Analytical Ecologist
     ·     What's in a job title?

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