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INFORMATION - USE IN SOCIETY
You have probably heard of the term the information age. Modern society has come to depend more and more on information. In many fields such as politics, economics, environment and entertainment, information is relied upon to help make decisions or recommendations.
This section will outline some examples of how information is used by people and organisations. Without reliable information wrong decisions can be made. In some cases the consequences of a wrong decision can be serious.
CASE STUDY 1
QUIT SMOKING CAMPAIGNS
The Victorian Smoking & Health Program or Quit Campaign has been working since the 1980s to encourage Australians to give up smoking. This organisation makes use of statistical information to decide particular campaign strategies. Details of two such campaign strategies and the statistics that influenced them follow.
| 1. | Between the years 1983 and 1987, survey data was collected on the characteristics of young adults (16-19 years) who smoked. Some of the major findings of the surveys were that:
- smoking rates among students were 11.6%;
- smoking rates among young full-time workers were 45.7%; and
- smoking rates among young people looking for work were 47.4%.
Considering these major findings, Quit Campaign organisers decided that a campaign should be targeted toward young adults in the workforce.
To design the campaign, data were collected from young people at their place of work. As a result of this research, Quit Campaign organisers were able to conclude the following (among other things) before designing their campaign:
- smoking was very much a life-style issue for young adults at work. It was tied in with social activities and friendship groups of this age; and
- smoking patterns change from school to work: a transition from occasional to habitual smoker tends to occur.
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| 2. | Quit Campaign data (1988-90) showed smokers over the age of 50 were least likely to believe health facts about smoking and least likely to intend quitting. The Quit Campaign’s annual household and telephone surveys found:
- 19% of people aged over 50 years who smoked believed they had no personal risk of dying from smoking;
- this compared to 3% for people aged 16-29 and 6% for people aged 30-49; and
- people aged 50 plus were most likely to report that no one favoured their quitting.
As a result of the above information, Quit Campaign organisers launched a campaign in 1994 designed to increase awareness of Quit’s services in smokers over 50 years of age. The hope was that the numbers intending or making attempts to quit would increase significantly.
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| 3. | The 1995 Victorian Quit campaign targeted people aged 18-24 years, based on 1994 US Surgeon General research on preventing tobacco use among young people and 1993 research on the incidence of Victorian secondary school students smoking.
Identified groups included: established smokers aged 18-24, experimental smokers aged 12-19, and potential smokers aged 12-19. Post-campaign research found that the advertisements were seen by 89% of 16-24 year olds, and that 39% of this group’s smokers felt encouraged to quit. |
CASE STUDY 2
CAR POOLING
In 1991 the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) wanted to know if their staff would be interested in a car pooling scheme. Their head office in Melbourne is difficult to reach by public transport and their car park had room for 600 cars with a staff size of 650.
Consultants were employed to survey staff about their attitudes to car pooling. A sample of 80 staff were asked about car pooling and what would motivate them to join in such a scheme. Some of the major findings of the survey were that:
- 27% of men and 28% of women would be pleased to car pool,
- 43% of men and 55% of women had mixed feelings about car pooling, and
- 26% of men and 15% of women were unhappy about car pooling.
In general, the survey recognised that most staff preferred to travel to and from work alone by car. A high proportion believed they needed to travel in their own cars at least one day per week. However, the survey also revealed that staff did see benefits in a car pooling scheme. These benefits in priority order were:
- social benefits,
- environmental benefits, and
- personal benefits.
The RACV introduced a car pooling scheme as a result of the survey. The scheme has proved effective in meeting the needs of interested employees and reduced demand for car parking space. Indeed, it is hoped the success of the scheme will encourage other large employers to introduce their own car pooling schemes.
CASE STUDY 3
HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE AND MARKETING DECISIONS
The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducts an extensive survey of how Australian households spend their money. While the main purpose of this survey is to measure change over time in the cost of living, the survey also allows businesses to gain an understanding of the type of people who buy their products. In turn, this allows businesses to develop better advertising and marketing strategies.
In other words, information on household expenditure is valuable market research for any business.
| 1. | A meat products promotional body wanted to find out the levels of expenditure on different types of meat products by households with differing income levels. The ABS survey covered 18 different types meat products, and the income spent upon them by households. The promotional body found that:
- high income households spent far less on its type of product compared to other meat products.
As a result of the above, the promotional body redesigned its product for the high income market.
It also used expenditure information to produce recipe ideas that would promote its product to specific markets in each state.
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| 2. | A home delivery pizza company wanted to identify the best location at which to open a new shop. The company examined ABS information on household expenditure on take-away food and eating out. Information was provided to the company on a suburb by suburb basis.
This allowed the company to establish a new shop in an area with high take-away food expenditure. |
CASE STUDY 4
OZONE LAYER DEPLETION AND THE MONTREAL PROTOCOL
The ozone layer is an important part of the global atmosphere-climate system. It limits the amount of ultraviolet radiation from the sun to levels necessary for life on Earth. A depleted ozone layer is likely to have serious consequences, such as: increased rates of sunburn and skin cancer, eye damage and other diseases, and reduced plant growth.
Human developed chemical compounds are the main cause of ozone layer depletion. These are compounds such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons, among others. In the past, they had been commonly used in refrigerators, air-conditioning systems and fire-retardant chemicals. In general, a fall of 1% in atmospheric ozone is equivalent to an increase of 1-2% in UV radiation at ground level.
The problem of ozone layer depletion became prominent in the 1980s, as scientific measurements began to show significant global decreases in ozone. Some of the general results follow:
- for mid latitudes, Europe and North America, annual ozone losses of 2-4% over the 1980s were reported,
- for Australia, ozone losses during the 1980s ranged from 5% over Hobart to 0.5% over Darwin, and
- for Antarctica, the ozone hole has become a regular feature of each southern hemisphere spring with total ozone losses of 60-70% reported since 1985.
The seriousness of the problem has led to global agreement to reduce and control the production of ozone depleting substances. At Montreal in 1987, 149 countries signed an agreement to reduce the use of ozone depleting substances. Some decisions taken were:
- for CFC-11s: freeze consumption at 1986 levels by 1989, and
- for CFC-12s: reduce consumption by 20% by 1 July 1993.
Australian efforts to meet Montreal targets can be seen below.
AUSTRALIAN DOMESTIC USE OF MAJOR OZONE DEPLETING SUBSTANCES (tonnes) |
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| | 1986 | 1989 | 1992 |
| Total CFC | 14,633 | 14,293 | 5,540 |
| Car air-conditioning CFC | 1,765 |  | 2,372 |
| Halon-1211 | 690 | | 15 |
| Halon-1303 | | 220 | 39 |
| Methyl chloroform | | 8,537 | 4,680 (a) |
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(a) Estimated
There are probably thousands of decisions made every day based on statistical information. Some are complex and require an in-depth study of the statistics before any decision is made. Others are straightforward and can be made with a quick look at the statistics.
The preceding examples and those below should make you appreciate just how important a role statistics play in modern society.
- In January 1986 the space shuttle Challenger blew up killing those on board.
After the accident, NASA re-examined the joints in the shuttle’s booster rockets. Each joint had better than 97% reliability. However, probability calculations showed that six joints working together were much less dependable.
Such probability calculations played a major role in identifying the problem and getting the shuttle back into space.1
- A leading advertising agency analysed ABS information from the 1991 Census. They were particularly interested in the average number of children in young families in Australia.
After making certain assumptions they calculated that the average young family in Australia has 2.3 children.
This finding was the basis of a national television advertising campaign about a car aimed at Australia’s young families.
- In the early 1980s over 300 Hispanic agents took the FBI to court in America. They claimed the FBI was discriminating against them over promotion, and in the hiring and firing of agents.
To support their case they presented statistics on the promotion and hiring and firing of FBI agents.
Their presentation persuaded the judge to order the FBI to adopt new policies to correct the problem.2
Footnotes 1 & 2. From Statistics - Decisions through Data. Video produced by the Consortium for Mathematics and its Applications (COMAP) Inc, America. Available from the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers Inc., GPO Box 1729, Adelaide, SA 5001.
EXERCISES
| 1. | Choose a night and a particular television station to watch the news. List the first ten news stories and note how many had statistical information as part of the story. Were any decisions in the stories based on statistics? |
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| 2. | Compare the front pages of three Australian newspapers on the same day. Count the number of different stories or reports on each front page, and calculate for each the proportion of stories that mention statistics. Do the same thing over a period, say once a week for four weeks. Present the results in the form of a table. |
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| 3. | Imagine you are a politician who wants to lower the voting age of the population from 18 to 16. What statistical information might you use to argue your case? Would you argue that the decision in favour of lowering the voting age should be based on the statistics alone? |
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| 4. | Draw up a list of what you would take into account, other than statistics, when making a decision about:
a) increasing taxation,
b) reducing traffic congestion,
c) quitting smoking,
d) buying a computer,
e) using public transport, and
f) moving interstate. |
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| 5. | Decide your favourite city in Australia or the world and use one item of statistical information to argue in favour of your choice. |
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| 6. | Can you think of situations where the same statistical information could be used to justify opposite decisions? |
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| 7. | Write an essay entitled ‘Using Statistics in today’s society’. |
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| 8. | Carefully study the following table on world population figures and answer the questions after it.
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UNITED NATIONS WORLD POPULATION FORECAST (millions) |
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| 1996 | 2050 |
| China | 1232 | 1517 |
| India | 945 | 1533 |
| Pakistan | 140 | 357 |
| Nigeria | 115 | 338 |
| Indonesia | 200 | 318 |
| Iran | 70 | 170 |
| USA | 269 | 347 |
| Ethiopia | 58 | 213 |
| Brazil | 161 | 243 |
| Bangladesh | 120 | 218 |
| Kenya | 28 | 66 |
| Mexico | 93 | 154 |
| Russian Federation | 148 | 114 |
| Philippines | 69 | 130 |
| Uganda | 20 | 66 |
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Source: United Nations Dept. for Economic and Social Information & Policy Analysis. World Population. 1996.
a)
| Which organisations might want the above information? |
| b) | To what issues would the above information be relevant? |
| c) | Based on these issues, what decisions would you take considering the above information? (Discuss as a class.) |
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