Siobhan McAndrew
@siobhanmcandrew.bsky.social
Policy economist, here for methods/cultural updates
Ex-Sheffield Methods Institute; U. Bristol; U. Manchester; HMT
Former V. Prof, Policy Institute, KCL
Honorary SL, U. Sheffield
As Maigh Eo mise
Ex-Sheffield Methods Institute; U. Bristol; U. Manchester; HMT
Former V. Prof, Policy Institute, KCL
Honorary SL, U. Sheffield
As Maigh Eo mise
Reposted by Siobhan McAndrew
1.
Believe it or not, inequality in British pay has been falling for a decade -- on all gauges
Which creates a mystery about why British life is still so unfair www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/econom...
Believe it or not, inequality in British pay has been falling for a decade -- on all gauges
Which creates a mystery about why British life is still so unfair www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/econom...
February 13, 2026 at 8:52 AM
1.
Believe it or not, inequality in British pay has been falling for a decade -- on all gauges
Which creates a mystery about why British life is still so unfair www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/econom...
Believe it or not, inequality in British pay has been falling for a decade -- on all gauges
Which creates a mystery about why British life is still so unfair www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/econom...
Reposted by Siobhan McAndrew
According to my bus, the Irish for blackberry is "sméar" which is perfect as no better berry to see smeared across a child's cheeks and the back of their sleeve.
February 12, 2026 at 9:01 PM
According to my bus, the Irish for blackberry is "sméar" which is perfect as no better berry to see smeared across a child's cheeks and the back of their sleeve.
Two green parakeets in the garden
The pigeons are incandescent
Normal
The pigeons are incandescent
Normal
February 12, 2026 at 10:43 AM
Two green parakeets in the garden
The pigeons are incandescent
Normal
The pigeons are incandescent
Normal
Just posted tabbitR on CRAN: automates production of batches of weighted cross-tabs, exported to Excel
R version of Stata -tabbit- on SSC
Consistent formatting, transparent handling of missing values
Speeds up exploratory analysis & preliminary reporting stage
cran.r-project.org/web/packages...
R version of Stata -tabbit- on SSC
Consistent formatting, transparent handling of missing values
Speeds up exploratory analysis & preliminary reporting stage
cran.r-project.org/web/packages...
tabbitR: Weighted Cross-Tabulations Exported to 'Excel'
Produces weighted cross-tabulation tables for one or more outcome variables across one or more breakdown variables, and exports them directly to 'Excel'. For each outcome-by-breakdown combination, the...
cran.r-project.org
February 11, 2026 at 9:33 AM
Just posted tabbitR on CRAN: automates production of batches of weighted cross-tabs, exported to Excel
R version of Stata -tabbit- on SSC
Consistent formatting, transparent handling of missing values
Speeds up exploratory analysis & preliminary reporting stage
cran.r-project.org/web/packages...
R version of Stata -tabbit- on SSC
Consistent formatting, transparent handling of missing values
Speeds up exploratory analysis & preliminary reporting stage
cran.r-project.org/web/packages...
Any Prunty relatives still around?
in other news i hope the Bronte sisters haunt anyone responsible for this www.theguardian.com/film/2026/fe...
‘Chia pudding is Cathy’s composed side’: the wild and worrying world of official Wuthering Heights merchandise
Emerald Fennell’s lust-fuelled take on Emily Brontë’s novel has cued a hot flush of merchandise ranging from themed snacks to thongs. What exactly are they buying into?
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2026 at 10:33 PM
Any Prunty relatives still around?
I'm in the wrong cluster!!! I have some work to do...
I made a map of 3.4 million Bluesky users - see if you can find yourself!
bluesky-map.theo.io
I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
bluesky-map.theo.io
I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
Bluesky Map
Interactive map of 3.4 million Bluesky users, visualised by their follower pattern.
bluesky-map.theo.io
February 9, 2026 at 8:08 AM
I'm in the wrong cluster!!! I have some work to do...
Governance language is very interesting, and there is too little attention to it.
February 8, 2026 at 10:18 PM
Governance language is very interesting, and there is too little attention to it.
Always interesting when a carefully-phrased formulation permits more than one reading.
February 8, 2026 at 9:38 PM
Always interesting when a carefully-phrased formulation permits more than one reading.
I'm always relieved when a video/podcast has an actual transcript, because who has the time?
Gen X reading speeds are not even really fast, just normal!
Gen X reading speeds are not even really fast, just normal!
February 8, 2026 at 8:54 PM
I'm always relieved when a video/podcast has an actual transcript, because who has the time?
Gen X reading speeds are not even really fast, just normal!
Gen X reading speeds are not even really fast, just normal!
Indeed. But professional success (in academia and elsewhere) isn't determined by being the smartest person in the room - so much is down to chance/fit/other factors
There are so many cognitive biases at play besides: fundamental attribution error, outcome and hindsight biases, just world fallacy
There are so many cognitive biases at play besides: fundamental attribution error, outcome and hindsight biases, just world fallacy
February 8, 2026 at 5:18 PM
Indeed. But professional success (in academia and elsewhere) isn't determined by being the smartest person in the room - so much is down to chance/fit/other factors
There are so many cognitive biases at play besides: fundamental attribution error, outcome and hindsight biases, just world fallacy
There are so many cognitive biases at play besides: fundamental attribution error, outcome and hindsight biases, just world fallacy
Listening to RnaG - the lead news story is the same as over on the big island
February 8, 2026 at 5:03 PM
Listening to RnaG - the lead news story is the same as over on the big island
Reposted by Siobhan McAndrew
I'm on a standing-room only train between Leeds and Sheffield. There's an elderly, slightly drunk man behind me playing 'Long Tall Sally' loudly on his phone, and shouting 'BABY!' and 'HAVE SOME FUN!' occasionally. Other passengers stoic.
February 8, 2026 at 12:37 PM
I'm on a standing-room only train between Leeds and Sheffield. There's an elderly, slightly drunk man behind me playing 'Long Tall Sally' loudly on his phone, and shouting 'BABY!' and 'HAVE SOME FUN!' occasionally. Other passengers stoic.
I just looked for a map/network graph of flight connections between the relevant cities
Great graph from a January 2025 transport economics paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Great graph from a January 2025 transport economics paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
February 7, 2026 at 12:18 PM
I just looked for a map/network graph of flight connections between the relevant cities
Great graph from a January 2025 transport economics paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Great graph from a January 2025 transport economics paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
'Not in any practical sense' 😂
The LLM is learning British English.
The LLM is learning British English.
February 7, 2026 at 11:43 AM
'Not in any practical sense' 😂
The LLM is learning British English.
The LLM is learning British English.
Gah, foiled again by science, apparently.
February 7, 2026 at 11:39 AM
Gah, foiled again by science, apparently.
And another Bangor near the Atlantic coast. Why not go the whole hog and resurrect the Atlantic Railway - carry on to Belmullet.
In fact - why not carry on to Newfoundland. Using new structures enabled by graphene and maglev trains.
In fact - why not carry on to Newfoundland. Using new structures enabled by graphene and maglev trains.
February 7, 2026 at 11:37 AM
And another Bangor near the Atlantic coast. Why not go the whole hog and resurrect the Atlantic Railway - carry on to Belmullet.
In fact - why not carry on to Newfoundland. Using new structures enabled by graphene and maglev trains.
In fact - why not carry on to Newfoundland. Using new structures enabled by graphene and maglev trains.
Reposted by Siobhan McAndrew
Please somebody, tell me how.
How can this be real life?
How can this be real life?
February 7, 2026 at 8:17 AM
Please somebody, tell me how.
How can this be real life?
How can this be real life?
Useful to ask which of the links work well currently
There is a lot of frequent flying from Manchester/Leeds/Liverpool to Dublin/Belfast. I can sometimes get a return flight to Dublin for the same as a peak fare to Sheffield
Shortening travel time to L'pool/Leeds would help MCR knowledge workers!
There is a lot of frequent flying from Manchester/Leeds/Liverpool to Dublin/Belfast. I can sometimes get a return flight to Dublin for the same as a peak fare to Sheffield
Shortening travel time to L'pool/Leeds would help MCR knowledge workers!
February 7, 2026 at 10:20 AM
Useful to ask which of the links work well currently
There is a lot of frequent flying from Manchester/Leeds/Liverpool to Dublin/Belfast. I can sometimes get a return flight to Dublin for the same as a peak fare to Sheffield
Shortening travel time to L'pool/Leeds would help MCR knowledge workers!
There is a lot of frequent flying from Manchester/Leeds/Liverpool to Dublin/Belfast. I can sometimes get a return flight to Dublin for the same as a peak fare to Sheffield
Shortening travel time to L'pool/Leeds would help MCR knowledge workers!
This is brilliant. I LOVE it. All my favourite places, plus Bangor as a free gift.
And will make the much-needed Irish reverse-takeover of northern Britain much easier. Like it's 1500 years ago again 👏👏👏
And will make the much-needed Irish reverse-takeover of northern Britain much easier. Like it's 1500 years ago again 👏👏👏
February 7, 2026 at 10:06 AM
This is brilliant. I LOVE it. All my favourite places, plus Bangor as a free gift.
And will make the much-needed Irish reverse-takeover of northern Britain much easier. Like it's 1500 years ago again 👏👏👏
And will make the much-needed Irish reverse-takeover of northern Britain much easier. Like it's 1500 years ago again 👏👏👏
What do people think will happen if they don't get cracking with this one - that it will magically regenerate on its own?
February 6, 2026 at 10:58 AM
What do people think will happen if they don't get cracking with this one - that it will magically regenerate on its own?
I hadn't realised so many people don't know about Bovril. It was an old-people's-drink when I was a child (as well as a marginally less repulsive spread than Marmite)
I had also forgotten that people used to make Oxo drinks! My sister lived on Oxo drinks and 8p tinned tomatoes as a student
I had also forgotten that people used to make Oxo drinks! My sister lived on Oxo drinks and 8p tinned tomatoes as a student
February 4, 2026 at 1:37 PM
I hadn't realised so many people don't know about Bovril. It was an old-people's-drink when I was a child (as well as a marginally less repulsive spread than Marmite)
I had also forgotten that people used to make Oxo drinks! My sister lived on Oxo drinks and 8p tinned tomatoes as a student
I had also forgotten that people used to make Oxo drinks! My sister lived on Oxo drinks and 8p tinned tomatoes as a student
Reposted by Siobhan McAndrew
NEW: Matthew Conrad, Conrad Hackett: "How Measurement Changes Can Exaggerate the Growth of Religious “Nones” " sociologicalscience.com/articles-v13...
sociologicalscience.com
February 3, 2026 at 6:03 PM
NEW: Matthew Conrad, Conrad Hackett: "How Measurement Changes Can Exaggerate the Growth of Religious “Nones” " sociologicalscience.com/articles-v13...
Congratulations!!! 👶+📖
February 3, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Congratulations!!! 👶+📖