Kevin McConway (born 12 October 1950) is emeritus professor of applied statistics at the Open University,[1][2] where he spent most of his career. He was the first Vice President (Academic Affairs) of the Royal Statistical Society, from 2012-2016.

After growing up in Northumberland, McConway studied mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge before taking a PhD at UCL, under the supervision of Philip Dawid.

He was academic adviser to the BBC Radio Four programme More or Less[3] and has written about that experience.[4] He is currently a trustee and advisory board member of the Science Media Centre and has written about experience communicating statistics with the media,[5][6] and this is developed as general guidance, and to statisticians specifically - "remember to sound human".[7]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, from November 2020 he was one of two Royal Statistical Society Fellows nominated to an advisory group to support the UK government prepare visualisations for broadcast press conferences.[8]

References

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  1. ^ "Is red meat back on the menu? - BBC News". Bbc.co.uk. 2019-09-30. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  2. ^ "Professor Kevin McConway | The Open University". Open.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  3. ^ "Kevin McConway | Compassion in World Farming". Ciwf.org.uk. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  4. ^ McConway,KJ (2020). "BBC's More or Less and Covid-19" (PDF). Radical Statistics. 126: 20–26.
  5. ^ McConway,KJ (2016). "Statistics and the Media: a statistician's view". Journalism. 17 (1): 49–65. doi:10.1177/1464884915593243. S2CID 141844133.
  6. ^ McConway, KJ; Spiegelhalter, DJ (2012). "Score and ignore: A radio listener's guide to ignoring health stories". Significance. 9 (5): 45–48. doi:10.1111/j.1740-9713.2012.00611.x.
  7. ^ McConway,KJ; Spiegelhalter,DJ (2021). "Sound human, steer clear of jargon, and be prepared". Significance. 18 (2): 32–34. doi:10.1111/1740-9713.01508. PMC 8250941. PMID 34230827.
  8. ^ "INQ000092893 - Witness statement of Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, dated 24/01/2023 and provided on behalf of the Cabinet Office (Corporate statement). UK Covid-19 Inquiry Archives".
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