Title: Sex by numbers: what statistics can, and can’t, tell us about sexual behaviour.
Speaker: David Spiegelhalter (University of Cambridge)
Abstract:
How often, with whom, and doing what? The statistics of sexual behaviour can be riveting, but can we believe them? I will look at examples ranging from pre-nuptial pregnancy rates in 1580, through Kinsey and Shere Hite, to modern online surveys and the latest Natsal survey: each will be given a rough ‘star-rating’ according to their reliability. In particular, I will confront two questions: why do men report more sexual partners than do women, and why are more boys born at the end of wars?
Since October 2007 David Spiegelhalter been Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge. His latest book – Sex by Numbers: What Statistics Can Tell Us About Sexual Behaviour – accompanied the Wellcome’s Institute of Sexology exhibition and covers some extraordinary stats and studies highlighting the challenges of taking a scientific approach to this tricky area. David will be talking about some of the key issues raised in his book.
Tea/Coffee from 3.45 in the foyer of the Alan Turing Building, University of Manchester