Why Briefed by Data?
Despite its apparent prevalence, the media frequently misuses data, though not always on purpose. In general, quick answers to complicated issues do not exist, and the use of data to provide them is frequently superficial, incomplete, or misleading in some way.
Briefed by Data aspires to provide engaging, thought-provoking, accurate, and complete data-driven reports on current events while simultaneously fostering data and quantitative literacy.
Briefed by Data is a publication and forum for those who wish to engage with data, quantitative information, and models. We appreciate and encourage comments and post-suggestions.
Who is Thomas J. Pfaff?
Okay, I go by Tom, but on formal documents, I use my full name. I am a tenured mathematics professor at Ithaca College (PhD Math: Stochastic Processes, MS Applied Statistics, MS Math, BS Math, BS Exercise Science), but I consider myself an accidental academic. Despite being a math professor, I earned my first undergraduate degree in exercise science (I was more interested in rowing than academics at the time). While attending graduate school, I also earned a master's degree in applied statistics. I founded https://sustainabilitymath.org years ago, and Briefed by Data is, in some ways, an extension of that. I'm a husband and father of four boys who is generally active and curious. I'm a gardener, drummer, rower, inline skater, 46er, and R user. I am open to collaboration of any type.
What to Expect from Briefed by Data
I typically release two to three posts per week. Currently, they come in four flavors. Each week, I publish a data-driven piece that frequently tackles a topic in the media. I write a weekly piece called Quick Takes and Random Stuff (QTRS), which focuses largely on recent data, statistics, and science in the news that caught my interest, though the Random Stuff part allows me to post anything. Every month, I typically provide a probability and statistics piece to help readers fully understand quantitative and statistical concepts. Every month, I also generally release a Classroom Connections post to provide educators with useful data, graphs, statistics, and math for possible classroom use. My goal is to be as neutral as possible, and if I succeed, some of the content I provide will occasionally anger people from all sides.
What about Subscriptions?
My long-term goal is to keep the site open, as I would like data-based articles to be available to everyone. Paid subscriptions, therefore, help to keep this site open and represent a vote of confidence in the future of Briefed by Data. Please consider a paid subscription.
