@smarteruk: Same number, two headlines. Which one would you click? Sir David Spiegelhalter, the Cambridge statistician and former president of the Royal Statistical Society, tells Peter McCormack he can make "any number look big, small, frightening or reassuring". His example: a bacon sandwich a day raises your risk of bowel cancer "by 20%". Told the other way, that is 6 people in 100 becoming 7 in 100. The real headline figure came from the WHO's cancer agency in October 2015: 50g of processed meat a day, 18% higher risk of bowel cancer. Condensed: a 7-second aside removed from the middle of his answer. When a minister, a charity or a newspaper quotes a percentage, what should they have to show you alongside it? 👇 Source: Sir David Spiegelhalter on The Peter McCormack Show, "#223 - Sir David Spiegelhalter - I Immediately Distrust Every Number In The News", 22 October 2026. Context: International Agency for Research on Cancer (WHO), press release 240, 26 October 2015. #SmarterUK #Statistics #Headlines #HealthNews

1130

2026-10-26 17:24:05

To see more videos from user @smarteruk, please go to the Tikwm homepage.