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I’m opening a new shoe shop (crazy, in these times of economic chaos, but bear with me) & I’ve decided that I’ll just sell average-sized women’s shoes (size 6 in the UK, btw). Spoiler: my shop quickly goes bust and I’m back to the day job running @data4sdgs 1/11
Trying to sell shoes based on the average shoe size is really no more silly than trying to make policy based on the ‘average’ person, which is the position many governments are in when it comes to data. To fight inequality, data needs to look beyond the averages. 2/11
The people with most needs are never average, by definition. Data on the 'average' child can't tell us how many of the 258 million children not in school have disabilities that keep them out of class. So how can we design schools that work for them? 3/11 http://uis.unesco.org/en/news/children-disabilities-are-more-likely-be-out-school
Data gives answers to problems only if it is asked the right questions. Which inequalities are relevant in determining life chances and experiences? In Colombia they brought in anthropologists as well as statisticians to understand this better. 4/11 http://www.data4sdgs.org/index.php/resources/tackling-inequality-colombia-through-intersectional-approach-data
Not asking the right questions can mean political disaster. When it came to finding a way to give grades to school leavers in the UK without exams, those responsible didn't notice that children from richer families got a huge advantage. Chaos ensued 5/11 https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/14974
Not asking is also a human and economic disaster. Tools, gadgets & machines designed using data that doesn’t distinguish between men and women can leave women injured or sick. Data should distinguish between men and women at the very least! 6/11 https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/feb/23/truth-world-built-for-men-car-crashes
Asking the right questions can lead to change. In the Philippines, data exposed differences in earnings & unpaid care work done by men & women, leading to a bill being presented in parliament to provide an income to women doing care work at home 7/11 http://congress.gov.ph/legisdocs/basic_17/HB08875.pdf
Uncovering inequalities isn’t easy. It wasn’t obvious that Black people & people of Pakistani & Bangladeshi heritage in the UK are nearly 2x as likely to die from Coronavirus as white people. Statisticians found the pattern by combining data sources 8/11
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/coronavirusrelateddeathsbyethnicgroupenglandandwales/2march2020to10april2020#introduction
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/coronavirusrelateddeathsbyethnicgroupenglandandwales/2march2020to10april2020#introduction
What to ask? Inequality is complex & we’ll never know everything. Data collectors have to trade off the desire to know things & the costs of collecting data, & getting questions right is hard & sometimes controversial. 9/11 http://www.washingtongroup-disability.com/washington-group-blog/washington-group-questions-consistent-social-model-disability/
The UN #SDGs define a minimum list of 8 inequalities that need to be visible in data. Surveys, the census, big data or satellite imagery should all be deployed to go beyond the averages & uncover inequalities across these 8 dimensions, if data is to help fight inequality 10/11
Inequality thrives in darkness. The statisticians who painstakingly ask the right questions to reveal the patterns of exclusion and disadvantage that mark too many societies are the unsung heroes of the fight for progress. Here’s to them! 11/11
