journalism – R for Journalists

Calculating Distances in R: How Fast is Your Train?

August 26, 2017August 26, 2017 Rob

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Earlier this month Marie Segger, Carlos Novoa and I had a major new project published about different rail speeds between cities around Britain. We compared the distances between train stations in Britain’s largest cities and found which areas were poorly-served by slow trains. Our project was picked up by a MP for Plymouth, a city … Read More “Calculating Distances in R: How Fast is Your Train?” »

Internal Migration Part III: Plotting Age Groups

August 17, 2017August 18, 2017 Rob

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Introduction In Part I we looked at overall internal migration local authority by local authority – are more people coming than going? In Part II we looked at where people are moving from and to around the country. Here in the final Part III we will look at the ages of people moving in and out. … Read More “Internal Migration Part III: Plotting Age Groups” »

Internal Migration, Part II: Homing in on individual authorities

August 9, 2017August 9, 2017 Rob

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In the first post we completed a hexagonal map showing internal migration at a glance around England and Wales in 2015/16. This map is very good for an overview of what’s going on around the country – is your area getting more people from or losing people to other parts of Britain? But it doesn’t … Read More “Internal Migration, Part II: Homing in on individual authorities” »

Internal Migration, Part I: Hexagonal maps of movement of people

July 20, 2017September 6, 2017 Rob

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The Office for National Statistics published some of its most interesting data last week – internal migration. This is the movement of people within the UK of people who are already here, not counting people immigrating or emigrating from abroad. The ONS publishes its headline estimates and also the full underlying data, containing each possible … Read More “Internal Migration, Part I: Hexagonal maps of movement of people” »

Cyclists Involved in Accidents Undertaking

February 15, 2017 Rob

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Last week I wrote some stories about cyclists involved in accidents while undertaking. The stories generated a LOT of comment and debate – both far more and far more negative than I was expecting. I’ll address that in a moment, but first, here’s a useful exercise in how to get the Government’s STATS19 data and filter down to … Read More “Cyclists Involved in Accidents Undertaking” »

Overcrowding in prison

January 6, 2017January 8, 2017 Rob

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It’s been a rocky few months for the prison system in England and Wales. In December there was a riot at HMP Birmingham that lasted around 12 hours. Authorities had to send in Tornado teams to restore order. The bill for getting the prison back to normal, including moving inmates to other prisons and replacing locks, … Read More “Overcrowding in prison” »

Andy Murray’s Long Road to the Top

November 7, 2016 Rob

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Andy Murray was crowned as the world number one in men’s tennis for the first time today. The two-time Wimbledon champion has long been out on his own as Britain’s best male tennis player and now he’s managed to overhaul Novak Djokovic at the summit of the game. It took Andy Murray a lot longer … Read More “Andy Murray’s Long Road to the Top” »

How Much Money Has My Young Person’s Railcard Saved Me?

November 6, 2016 Rob

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In a few months time I will be turning 27 years old. This means that my 16-25 railcard, commonly known in Britain as a Young Person’s Railcard, won’t be valid any more. But you’re 26? I bought my railcard a few days before my 26th birthday, which means I can keep using it until a couple … Read More “How Much Money Has My Young Person’s Railcard Saved Me?” »

Dodgy Road Signs, Traffic Lights and Markings: Part Two

November 5, 2016 Rob

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At the end of the last post, we had our data in a file named defective. The data contains all the injuries caused by car accidents where a road sign, signal or marking was obscured or not working properly from 2010 to 2015 (4,672 in total). To R or not to R? We could continue to … Read More “Dodgy Road Signs, Traffic Lights and Markings: Part Two” »

Londoners Take the Bus Far More Often Than the Rest of England (Adjusted for Population)

October 24, 2016October 31, 2016 Rob

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The last post came in for some criticism on /r/rstats, in particular from /u/fang_xianfu, who argued it merely showed that London has more people than the rest of the country.