Digging for data from the medieval ages occupies James Walker, John Lee, and Stephen Broadberry in the August issue of Significance. They use ancient statistical documents, including arguably the most famous of them all—Domesday Book, published in 1086—to painstakingly reconstruct the medieval economy. Some of the statistical niggles they face are still thwarting economists today.

Also in the August issue:

• What really makes one higher education institution “better” than another? University league tables are big business built on a flimsy statistical approach, argue Adrian Barnett and Elizabeth Gadd.
• Did the dogs of Mexico City really stop their owners from dying of COVID-19? Isaac Núñez shares an astonishing tale of causal questions, selection bias, and confounding.
• Domestic abuse victims struggled to contact the police during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using internet search data, Dan Anderberg, Helmut Rainer, and Fabian Siuda found an increase in domestic violence several times larger than that suggested in official police records.
• Data visualization fans need no introduction to David McCandless, data journalist and author of the bestselling books Information Is Beautiful and Knowledge Is Beautiful, as well as, most recently, Beautiful News. He is also one of the media’s most called-upon advocates for statistics as art. In an interview with Anna Britten, he talks about his process, data visualization heroes, and why communication is all about context.

Access the digital version of Significance through the ASA membership portal or download and read the magazine on the go with our iOS and Android apps. Print issues will be mailed to subscribers soon.