Birmingham Popular Maths Lecture - Yeah, But Is It Significant?

"You've just tossed a coin ten times and eight of them were heads. Aston Villa win their next five games of the Premiership season. In clinical trials for a new treatment for chronic headaches, 40% get better within 24 hours. But so what, sometimes these things happen just by chance, right? As a statistician, it is Jen's job to decide whether any differences she sees in data are likely to be just by chance, or whether they are 'statistically significant'. But how much evidence do you need before you can say that what you see is significant and how do you untangle causality from chance?"

Dr. Jennifer Rogers, Department of Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The Birmingham Popular Mathematics Lectures are open to all members of the public and the University who are interested in the study of Mathematics. They are particularly suitable for those studying Mathematics at A Level and we also welcome advanced GCSE students. Young people are welcome on their own, with parents or with a school group.

The lectures are free of charge and in general there is no need to register. The lectures start at 7.30pm and last one hour, please arrive in the Watson building from 7pm onwards. If you are travelling by minibus please contact us to arrange parking, otherwise please see the University's general travel information which includes a campus map, where the Watson Building is labelled R15.