After many thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of cases it has been a relief to see daily new cases of COVID and weekly death counts drop to double or even single figures. But as we try and find a balance between lockdown and our normal lives, we are faced with a new problem: if you attempt to perform analysis on counts of less than 10 then you are likely committing a … [Read more...] about Small numbers, big uncertainty: hard decisions
Brexit and devolution….a primer
The contentions with Brexit and devolution concern powers that are currently held by the EU and whether they should be transferred to either the UK or Scottish parliaments when we leave the EU.The first point where I see misunderstanding is on what is meant by "powers". So let's tackle that first.What's a power?A parliament can have a bill proposed which the members … [Read more...] about Brexit and devolution….a primer
Education and inequality Part Three: Greater Glasgow
The previous post in this series found evidence of an association between inequality, as measured by property prices, and pupils attending schools outwith the council area they live in. This post will look at how this has changed in recent years in the Greater Glasgow hot-spot involving the councils areas of East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire and Glasgow City.Let's … [Read more...] about Education and inequality Part Three: Greater Glasgow
Education and inequality: Part Two
In the last post I presented statistics showing that Scotland has some high percentages of pupils living in one council area but attending secondary school in an adjacent area. There were two notable examples: pupils commuting from Glasgow to its leafy suburbs — East Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire — and also from Clackmannanshire to Stirlingshire. In this post we'll look … [Read more...] about Education and inequality: Part Two
Mapping educational inequality in Scotland
It would be a rare child that would ask "how do I get the most out of the life ahead of me?" The answer that well-meaning adults would give, and often do give even without being asked, is: "work hard".But if we were being more honest we'd say: "Work hard, but first make sure you were born in the right place, with the right parents."With this in mind, one way to assess … [Read more...] about Mapping educational inequality in Scotland