The seventh John Hooper Medal for Statistics competition has once again been a great success. Thanks to all the schools, teachers and students taking part for making the competition a great success. The judges were impressed with the entries to the competition in 2017, the standard of the entries rose again this year. The imagination, ingenuity and industry displayed is inspiring.
The seventh John Hooper Medal for Statistics competition was launched by Padraig Dalton, Director General on the Central Statistics Office on 20th October 2016. Thousands of students registered for the competition from the whole island of Ireland. 255 posters, both Irish and English language entries, were received in the CSO.
The 255 posters were initially judged in two phases by teams from the CSO according to a detailed judging criteria and 15 posters were shortlisted for the final judging phase. The final judging panel chaired by Fiona O’ Callaghan consisted of:
Kathleen O'Sullivan
Lecturer & Director of The Statistical Consultancy Unit
School of Mathematical Sciences
University College
Cork
Anthony Dawson
Statistician
Agriculture Prices
Central Statistics Office
Cork
Kieran Murphy
Lecturer in Mathematics
Calmast
Waterford Institute of Technology
Fiona O'Callaghan
Statistician
Methodology
Central Statistics Office, Cork
The panel had an arduous task to assess the shortlisted posters and pick the winners.
The results of the final judges' deliberations are given below:
Students: Ella Brennan, Jessie Oyenuga
Teacher: Claire Treanor
Loreto Secondary School
Granges Rd
Kilkenny
Second prize
Students: Bronagh Cassidy, Aoife Lowth, Rachel Campbell
Teacher: John White
St. Vincent’s Secondary School
Seatown Place
Dundalk
Co Louth
Third prize
Students: Lynn Sweetnam, Eva Murphy
Teacher: Stephen McLaughlin
Bandon Grammar School
Bandon
Co Cork
The John Hooper Medal for Statistics 2017 prizes will be presented at an award ceremony in October 2017. (Place, time and date to be decided)
Order of Merit
The following posters were given an order of merit by the judges:
Students: Andrea Whyte, Amy Fallon
Teacher: Meighan Duffy
Athlone Community College
Retreat Road
Athlone
Co Westmeath
Students: Neidin Mooney, Sarah Reynolds, Hannah Keane
Teacher: Jack Neylon
Coláiste Muire
Harmony Row
Ennis
Co Clare
Students: Eve Morrissey, Stephanie Woods
Teacher: John White
St. Vincent’s Secondary School
Seatown Place
Dundalk
Co Louth
Students: Damilola Alabi, Denise Walsh, Leah Finnegan
Teacher: John White
St. Vincent’s Secondary School
Seatown Place
Dundalk
Co Louth
Students: Rose Geaney, Dominika Fortuna
Teacher: Laura Hogan
Scoil Chonglais
Baltinglass
Co Wicklow
Students: Tadhg Carew, Jack Quirke
Teacher: Marian Keating
The Abbey School
Station Road
Tipperary Town
Co Tipperary
Students: Rachele Ardiff, Aisling Leahy, Sarah Henry
Teacher: Sabrina Conway
Dominican College
Griffith Avenue
Dublin 9
Students: Ronan McElligott, Dylan Savage, David Ryle
Teacher: Siobhan Stokes
Mercy Mounthawk Secondary School
Mounthawk
Tralee
Co Kerry
Students: Suzanne Bateman, Elyse Dennehy-Crowley
Teacher: Stephen McLaughlin
Bandon Grammar School
Bandon
Co Cork
Students: Amy O'Mahony, Shauna Flynn
Teacher: Andrew Fitzpatrick
Mercy Mounthawk Secondary School
Mounthawk
Tralee
Co Kerry
Students: Aimeé Byrne, Cónagh Fitzgerald, Maggie Nolan
Teacher: Andrew Fitzpatrick
Mercy Mounthawk Secondary School
Mounthawk
Tralee
Co Kerry
Students: Barry O'Keeffe, Leo Downes, Tom Gibson
Teacher: Andrew McKimm
Blackrock College
Rock Road
Blackrock
Dublin
Feedback from the judges on the posters
The Chair and the judges noted the continued overall improvement in the standard, quality and the impact of the posters this year.
There were some issues with the legibility of some of the posters so if you are using a background, make sure that the text is in a colour that stands out from the background so that it can be clearly read. Also, make sure that the axes and labels of your graphs are readable. Sometimes colours and fonts can look different on screen than on paper so it might be a good idea to print a copy of your poster to see how it looks before you submit it.
Think about the appropriateness of the graphs that you use. The purpose of a graph is to present data that are too numerous or complicated to be described adequately using text; there is no need to use graphs for small amounts of data that could be conveyed succinctly in a sentence. Graphs should help the reader to understand your results so be sure to label your axes and use a legend if required.
Describe your data source(s) and if you have selected a sample, describe how you selected it and the population that it is supposed to represent. If you are referring to or quoting other published work then you should include the references in your poster.
Finally, make sure to proof-read your poster before you submit it as typos and spelling mistakes can take from the overall impression of a poster.
Avail of the many online guides that can help to improve the overall impact of your poster, e.g. http://hsp.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/ScientificPosters.pdf
Congratulations on your involvement in the Seventh John Hooper Medal for Statistics poster competition. Thank you to all the people who participated, assisted or were otherwise instrumental in making this competition such a great success.
Please send your feedback and comments on the John Hooper Medal for Statistics poster competition to johnhooper2017@cso.ie.
Eoin McCuirc,
Assistant Principal
Databank and Dissemination
Central Statistics Office (CSO),
Skehard Road,
Cork City.
Ireland
Phone: (+353) 21 453 5504
Mobile: (+353) 86 4535741
E-mail: eoin.mccuirc@cso.ie
