STATS is our collaborative project with the American Statistical Association to improve statistical literacy among journalists, academic journal editors, and researchers.
“The ASA-SAS USA partnership on STATS has set its sights squarely on the target of developing a statistical literate citizenry, and is quite likely the most important development in the American Statistical Association’s long efforts to promote statistical literacy.”
New on STATS
STATScheck
Are you a journalist? Our volunteer advisory board of academics from across the U.S.
are here to help you make sense of statistics and numbers. We’ll do our best to help you make your deadline.
Business Insider
Dallas Morning News
Five Thirty Eight
Forbes
Fortune
Fusion
Gatehouse Media
Health News Review
Huffington Post
KOMOTV
L.A. Times
Las Vegas Review Journal
Medpage Today
National Geographic
National Press Foundation
National Public Radio
New York Times
News Tribune
NPR
PBS NewsHour
Press Democrat
ProPublica
Quartz
Reuters
STAT News
Vox
Wall Street Journal
Washington Post
Worcester Business Journal
WUSA9
STATS Workshops
Free interactive workshops in statistics tailored to science, health, and general reporting. We’ll come to your newsroom, journalism school or media organization.
Promoting Statistical Literacy
Sense About Science USA promotes statistical literacy at academic and public events across the U.S.
Scientifically Speaking (STATS edition)
We also work with statisticians and statistics students to improve the public’s understanding of statistics through better communication.
STATS Forum
A venue for statisticians and mathematicians to critically evaluate study design and statistical methods in research. The subjects (products, procedures, treatments, etc.) of the studies being evaluated are neither endorsed nor rejected by Sense About Science USA. We encourage readers to use these articles as a starting point to discuss better study design and statistical analysis. While we strive for factual accuracy in these posts, they should be considered academic rather than journalistic writing.
The Sun is Out: Risk of skin cancer in different groups
A common refrain about skin cancer is that it affects one in five Americans in their lifetime. Yet not all skin cancer is the same, and its impact varies tremendously according to its type. Teasing out the risks from sunburn is a daunting task; our aim here has been to present the overall population-based risk and then focus in on what an individual’s risk might be depending on who that individual is.
To err is human
One of the oddest study results in recent years, one which you (probably) never heard about until now, must be the randomized control trial on massage therapy in which the participants—all adults—grew by almost two-and-a-half inches over eight weeks.
PACE: The research that sparked a patient rebellion and challenged medicine
In 2011, researchers announced that PACE, the largest treatment trial in the history of chronic fatigue syndrome, had been a great success. That seemed like great news since there is no known cure for this devastating disease that affects over a million people in the United States alone. Now, it looks like one the biggest disasters in medicine.
David Spiegelhalter, Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk at the University of Cambridge talks about what makes statisticians miserable and why it’s important for society.
Sense About Science Executive Director Trevor Butterworth talks about the importance of statistical literacy for journalists on Montreal’s The Body of Evidence.
Reddit AMA with STATS Director Rebecca Goldin. Click here.
Partners and Resources
Our partners, major statistical organizations, books, articles, and blogs.
