- April 9, 2021, 7:30 pm US/Central
- Dr. Jevin West, University of Washington
- Tickets: $4
- Purchase tickets »
This event will be offered virtually – registration available soon.
The spread of misinformation is among the most pressing challenges of our time. New platforms for human interaction and information sharing have opened the door to misinformation, disinformation and other forms of networked manipulation, which not only mislead and create divisions, but also diminish trust in democratic institutions such as science. In this talk, Dr. West will provide a set of tools to cut through the most intimidating data. You don’t need technical expertise to call out problems with data and information online. Are the numbers or results too good or too dramatic to be true? Is the claim comparing like with like? Is it confirming your personal bias? Drawing on a deep well of expertise in data science, Dr. West provides examples of selection bias and muddled data visualization, distinguish between correlation and causation, and examine the susceptibility of science to modern misinformation.
Jevin West is an Associate Professor in the Information School at the University of Washington. He is the Director of the new Center for an Informed Public at UW and co-founder of the DataLab. His research and teaching focus on the impact of technology on science and society, with a focus on slowing the spread of misinformation. He is the co-author of the book, “Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World”, which provides a set of tools for questioning numbers, data, and statistics confidently and without any advanced degree in data science. The book is based on a course he co-developed in 2017 that is now being taught at universities around the globe.
