Speaker: Sir Andrew Dilnot, Warden of Nuffield College, Oxford

Title: Numbers and public policy: What statistics really matter

Abstract: Statistics abound in the discussion of public policy – politicians’ speeches, newspapers, radio, television and social media are full of numbers.  It would be easy to think that the statistics didn’t really matter, that they are just being used to make arguments that have been decided on in advance and without any intention to the underlying facts.  That may sometimes be true, but it is not something we can be happy with.  Statistics and statistical thought have a great deal to contribute to public debate, and we should be vigorous in making the argument for them. The Florence Nightingale Lecture aims to celebrate that diversity by inviting a distinguished speaker to lecture on a statistical topic of their choice, one which can inspire the current generation as Nightingale herself did. This event is kindly being sponsored by XTX Markets Ltd.

List of Florence Nightingale Lectures.