David Jordan
BBC Director of editorial and policy standards
Reporting the statistical claims
Both the EU Referendum, and now the US election, have led some commentators to question whether we are now living in a world of post-truth politics. Some of the biggest arguments that raged during and after the Referendum campaign concerned the claims made by the two sides, each quoting statistics that were criticized by the other. And those of us who consider ourselves experts in some field began to wonder if Michael Gove was right and no-one was interested in what we have to say anymore.
This has implications for both statistics and research, and so it is fitting that this year’s Cathie Marsh seminar has the aim of discussing the use of statistics in the campaign. We are very pleased to have secured participation from senior figures from the two campaigns, who will talk about their choice and presentation of statistics in the campaign. The aim of the evening is not to argue about who was right and who was wrong, but to understand just how statistics became such a key part of the campaign.
Public understanding of the numbers involved is of course crucial, and Ipsos MORI will present data from a survey conducted to measure how well-informed people are on some of the key issues like immigration.
While the campaigns were presenting their statistics, others outside the process were trying to hold each side to account. One of the most important of these was Full Fact, who will explain their role in the process.
The media also had a major role to play, especially the BBC, which has obligations in elections for both equal coverage and impartiality, and the final presentation will discuss how this role was fulfilled in the campaign.
