On 17 February 2012 Tim Sparks from Coventry University's SIGMA centre for math support spoke to First Year students in BA Journalism & Media about reporting statistics. He gave examples of good and bad practices of conveying complex information with graphics, offered tips on how to spot wrong reports and demonstrated how students can use technology to report complex information. This was part of the Data Journalism masterclass, organised by John Mair.

1. Tim Sparks Having fun with figures; making sense of stats

2. Variability (uncertainty) exists in almost everything.....

6. Use this!

7. Coventry store sees sales of 99p cleavage-boosting bras soar by 600% in wake of breast implant saga THE boss of a budget stores chain claims the breast implant saga has seen its sales of 99p cleavage-boosting bras and chest enhancing products soar by 600 per cent at its Coventry shop in the last two weeks alone. Hussein Lalani, pictured, owner of 99p Stores, said since it emerged last month that 40,000 UK women have been fitted with a type of implant that is at risk of rupturing inside the body, its shops have been inundated with consumers wanting a way of enhancing their breasts without the risk of surgery. He would not give specific figures of how many of the breast-enhancing products the firm had sold, but confirmed sales at its Hertford Street store in the city centre’s had tripled in 14 days. Mr Lalani said: “It’s not just our padded bras that have been flying off the shelves, our breast lift tape, which enhances cleavages, has also been hugely popular. Coventry Telegraph 16/1/2012

15. Nov 30 2001 Dec 2 2002 Dec 2 2003 Dec 2 2004 Dec 2 2005 Dec 2 2006 Nov 30 2007 Dec 2 2008 Dec 2 2009 Dec 2 2010 Dec 2 2011

16. Daily Mail Britain could have first 'green Christmas' as climate change warms autumn Dr Tim Sparks, of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Cambridgeshire, said: 'In four of the past six or seven years there have still been leaves on the trees in December, so a green Christmas is not so much of a joke now. It will only take a delay in one or two frosts and we could have one. It's possible it will happen this year.'

17. Daily Mail 30/10/11

35. Map of the world according to the nations GDP Copyright: Mark Newman, Department of Physics and Center for the Study of Complex Systems, University of Michigan. URL: http://www . personal.umich.edu/~mejn/cartograms/ gdp1024x512.png

36. Numbers of migrant moths and butterflies at Portland

37. Sparrowhawk eggs