David Hand Books

Data represent the world, but they cannot capture everything. As measurements, data reflect only what has been recorded and may not include all relevant information for our inquiries. Ignoring what is missing can lead to misguided questions, erroneous conclusions, and poor decisions. David Hand explores the concept of "missing data," or "dark data," likening it to dark matter—known to exist but not directly measurable. He discusses how to identify missing data, the contexts in which it often occurs, and strategies to address it. Dark data can stem from various sources, such as asymmetric information in conflicts, delays in financial trading, participant dropouts in clinical trials, or selective reporting to enhance performance in various sectors. The key takeaway is that simply amassing more data, often referred to as big data, does not guarantee improved understanding or decision-making. Instead, we must remain aware of the unknowns in our data. To mitigate the impact of dark data, we can recognize its causes, design more effective data-collection methods, and formulate better questions that lead to deeper insights and improved decisions.

This Very Short Introduction explores the concept of measurement, its mathematical underpinnings, and its wide range of application from the sciences and social sciences to economics and commerce

This book is about the function and use of official statistics. It welcomes the aspiration for official statistics to be an indispensable element in the information system of a democratic society, serving the government, the economy and the public with data about the economic, demographic, social and environmental situation. The book identifies the political role of official statisticians, who decided what gets measured as well as how it is measured. While thousands of official statistics are published every year, and some are quoted by politicians, used by policy-makers or reported in the media, the authors observe that, in the main, official statistics do not feature much in everyday lives of people and businesses. The book concludes with suggestions for more that should be done, especially in the context of improving wellbeing and helping meet the worldwide set of sustainable development goals set for 2030.

The author has written an accessible book presenting the central issues and placing particular emphasis on comparison, performance assessment and how to match method to application. He reviews the different approaches and guides researchers (and the huge class of users and potential users) to suitable classes of techniques. He points the way to more detailed study in "further reading" sections in each chapter.

Glückspilze, die mehrfach im Lotto gewinnen, Unglücksraben, die wiederholt der Blitz trifft, extreme Krisen an den Finanzmärkten aus vermeintlich heiterem Himmel: Außerordentlich unwahrscheinliche Dinge - Wunder im positiven, Katastrophen im negativen Sinne - geschehen immer wieder. Die Frage ist nur: Warum? Und: Wie? Lieben Sie Geschichten über bestürzende Zufälle und außerordentlich seltene Ereignisse? Dann sollten Sie genauso zu diesem Buch greifen, wie wenn Sie endlich eine seriöse Methode kennenlernen möchten, Ihre Chance auf einen Lottogewinn zu erhöhen. So anschaulich wie vergnüglich weiht David Hand uns in die Macht des Unwahrscheinlichen und seine physikalischen, statistischen und psychologischen Gesetze ein. Kommen diese zusammen, ist die Wirkung verblüffend. Dann können wir uns darauf gefasst machen, dass das Unvorstellbare eintritt. Jeden Tag.

V éře velkých dat je snadné podlehnout dojmu, že máme všechny informace, které k správnému rozhodování potřebujeme. Ve skutečnosti však nejsou data, která máme, nikdy úplná. Stejně jako většina vesmíru sestává z temné hmoty, neviditelné a přesto přítomné, je vesmír informací plný temných dat, která k vlastní škodě přehlížíme. Kniha zkoumá množství způsobů, kterými nás mohou chybějící data zaslepit vůči skutečnosti a vést nás k závěrům a skutkům, jež jsou pomýlené, nebezpečné, ba dokonce katastrofální. Učí nás nejen jak se mít na pozoru před problémy, které představuje to, co nevíme, ale také jak využít temných dat k vlastní výhodě tím, že budeme lépe chápat to, o čem se rozhodujeme. Dnes se na základě dat rozhodujeme všichni. David Hand nám ukazuje, jak se pokud možno nerozhodovat špatně.