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Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics used in everyday life

Tim Harford explains - and sometimes debunks - the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life

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More or Less: The great playing field sell off?

Factual

17/08/2012

The great playing field sell off?

BBC Radio 4 - More or Less, The great playing field sell off?

How many school playing fields have really been sold off? Presented by Tim Harford.

How many school playing fields have really been sold off? How safe are 20mph roads? And why an important inflation measure is flawed. Presented by Tim Harford.

Playing the fields

The Olympics were supposed to inspire a generation to take up sport. No wonder, then, that people are depressed about the government's record of selling off playing fields. But what do the numbers really tell us?

RIP RPI?

We explain why a weird flaw in the way the retail price index (a key inflation measure) is calculated is dry and technical - but far more important than you might think.

David's line

Our final listener question for TV's Yan Wong: If Solomon - son of King David - had about a thousand wives and concubines, as the Bible says, wouldn't it be the case that by the time of Jesus - many generations later - pretty much everyone in Israel could claim to be a descendant of King David?

20mph roads

It was reported recently that the number of people killed or injured on 20mph roads has risen by nearly a quarter. Does that mean 20mph roads are less safe than we thought? Or is there another explanation?

Thinking in Numbers

On More or Less we think numbers help us to understand the world. But for Daniel Tammet, they're a lot more important than that. For him, numbers don't just help him to understand the real world. They're his ticket to being a part of it. We've been talking to Daniel - a mathematical savant - about his new book, "Thinking in Numbers".

Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Richard Knight.

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