The Turnstone: talking about vaccines #17

Lies, damn lies and statistics

Welcome to The Turnstone: talking about vaccines. Here, I share resources to help you have kind and non-judgemental conversations with people who are uncertain about, or opposed to, vaccination. I these resources about vaccination every Wednesday and my original articles on Sunday - if you’d like them emailed to you directly, you can sign up to my mailing list.

This week, I focus on numbers. If you are hearing figures quoted that don’t seem quite right, then take a look at what these resources have to say. They can help you to have better conversations on what the numbers are saying – and what they are not saying.

Be careful with numbers (2 minute read)

Examples from two British statisticians about how Covid-19 statistics can be misleading

On Covid, we need to be careful when we talk about numbers | David Spiegelhalter and Anthony Masters | The Guardian

When numbers doesn't show the whole picture (5 minute read)

This article looks at some of the less obvious points hidden behind the data on Covid-19 vaccination.

COVID death data can be shared to make it look like vaccines don't work, or worse – but that's not the whole picture (theconversation.com)

Debunking Alex Berenson and Joe Rogan

Here are two articles analysing and debunking claims made by American journalist Alex Berenson on Joe Rogan's podcast. Both articles address the issue of misleading claims, but the second article does so in more detail.

The quick version (3 minute read)

Fact Check-Vaccinated people in Britain are not dying at a higher rate than the unvaccinated | Reuters

The long version (9 minute read)

Why It's Easy to Misinterpret Numbers of Deaths Among the Vaccinated - FactCheck.org

Covid-19 cases increasing in vaccinated people (8 minute read)

A New Zealand take on why we are seeing increasing numbers of Covid-19 cases in vaccinated people, looking at both New Zealand and UK data.

Covid-19: How raw vaccine and case data can be (very) misleading | Stuff.co.nz

Simpson's Paradox (9 minute audio)

The BBC radio show "more or less" looks at the claim that the death rate in the UK is higher among the vaccinated than the unvaccinated. It covers the same kind of material, but in audio for those who prefer to hear rather than read.

BBC Radio 4 - More or Less: Behind the Stats, Simpson’s Paradox: How to make vaccinated death figures misleading

I will be continuing The Turnstone: talking about vaccines as a weekly newsletter until Christmas. After that, I will be publishing it less frequently.

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