Big data is often compared to an untapped oil reserve—rich in potential but requiring careful refinement to yield valuable insights. This talk will focus on estimating population proportions for the presence or absence of specific characteristics using big data sources, such as social media. While big data provides vast coverage and real-time insights, it frequently suffers from measurement errors and under-coverage, posing challenges for accurate statistical inference.

In this talk, Siu-Ming will introduce representativity ratios (RRs), a key metric for evaluating the representativeness of big data sources. He will demonstrate how hybrid estimation, which integrates big data and survey data sources, can be used to overcome the under-coverage of big data. The talk will also outline methods to address measurement errors in big data, ensuring more reliable statistical insights.

To illustrate these concepts, the talk will present an example from Australian agricultural statistics, showing how Agricultural Census data (treated as big data) can be integrated with Agricultural Survey data to improve statistical inference. Additionally, applications of hybrid estimation in social media analytics, particularly for sentiment analysis, will be explored, along with the key prerequisites for implementing these methods effectively.

Speaker:

Siu-Ming has a BA in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Hong Kong (HKU), graduating in 1973 with first-class honours. He worked at the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department until 1985. After completing his PhD at the Australian National University, he joined the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in 1987. Since then, he has held various roles, including Program and General Manager overseeing population censuses, surveys, data management, dissemination, and information management transformation programs. From 2012 to 2019, he served as the General Manager and Chief Methodologist of ABS’s Methodology Division.

Siu-Ming has also held leadership positions in the statistical community. He was the Chair of the UN Task Force on Satellite Imagery and Geo-spatial Statistics, Chair of the Paris Micro-data Group at the OECD, Vice-President of the International Association of Official Statistics and chair of the Chief Methodologists Network. Additionally, he was the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Statistical Journal of the International Association of Official Statistics and served as Applications Editor for the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Statistics.

Since retiring in 2019, Siu-Ming has been consulting for top global management consultancy firms and national statistical offices in Australia, Asia, and the Middle East.

He is also an elected member of the International Statistical Institute and ex-honorary professorial fellow of the University of Wollongong, Australia.

All are welcome to attend.