Data & Metrics

Data & Metrics

Aggregation: combining sources multiplies their errors as well as their coverage

Combining sources improves coverage and imports every problem each one has. Both effects are real and only one is intended.

19/08/2026 4 min read

Data & Metrics

Charts: the same data supports several pictures, and you choose which

Presentation choices change what readers conclude from identical data — which makes them analytical decisions, not aesthetic ones.

19/08/2026 4 min read

Data & Metrics

Counting rules: the rule is part of the number

Two analysts with the same data and two defensible rules produce different totals. Publishing one without the other publishes half a finding.

19/08/2026 4 min read

Data & Metrics

Reproducibility: could someone else get your number from your data?

Most published analyses cannot be reproduced from what was shared — usually for want of documentation rather than secrecy.

19/08/2026 4 min read

Data & Metrics

Measurement design: what you measure becomes what people do

Choosing indicators is not a technical decision. It determines behaviour, whether or not that was intended.

19/08/2026 4 min read

Data & Metrics

Metrics: every number answers a narrower question than it appears to

Research metrics are not wrong. They answer narrower questions than the ones people use them to answer.

19/08/2026 4 min read