David Martin, Professor of Geography at the University, is to be awarded the prestigious Back Award (2015) by the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers).
Professor Martin will receive the honour in recognition of outstanding research which has led to a new approach for compiling and analysing official statistics – in particular for the UK Census. His work to demonstrate the importance of small area data contributed to a government decision to retain the census for 2021.
He says:
“I am delighted to receive this award; it is enormously gratifying to see almost any detailed map of the census published since 2001 and know that our work has contributed to it – effectively helping to shape every use of local census data from the last two censuses.”
Professor Martin’s research overcame major past problems with reporting census data. In the 1990s, information from approximately 4,000 areas of the UK couldn’t be reported, due to populations being so small they caused confidentially concerns for participants.
Professor Dame Judith Rees, President of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) comments:
“David Martin’s work on official statistics has made a significant contribution to both public sector and commercial policy. He is a most influential practitioner in this field and wholly deserving of the Back Award.”