Available online
Description
Except when we are trying to win a pile of cash, we do not like lotteries in life. We think they are unjust, arbitrary. They mock our sense of the control of the our own lives and make it all into ...chance instead. So what would you say to the ideas of Professor Barbara Goodwin, who thinks we could create lottery utopia, where school admissions, public housing, organ transplants, child custody after divorce, selecting people to serve on public bodies were all decided at least in part by lottery? We took Professor Goodwin to a school in Lewisham which used to be selective and is now choosing some pupils by lottery to see if she could convince sceptical parents. What if you live nearby, they ask. What if there is a brother or sister there already? But are these ways of choosing who gets what any better than a system of chance, which at least treats everyone equally? -- We also put our reporter through a driving simulator to try to find out if it is age or inexperience that causes young drivers to have more accidents. -- And we bring you the latest on our so far fruitless attempt to compare the statistics on hospital mortality for England with Wales.
Except when we are trying to win a pile of cash, we do not like lotteries in life. We think they are unjust, arbitrary. They mock our sense of the control of the our own lives and make it all into ...chance instead. So what would you say to the ideas of Professor Barbara Goodwin, who thinks we could create lottery utopia, where school admissions, public housing, organ transplants, child custody after divorce, selecting people to serve on public bodies were all decided at least in part by lottery? We took Professor Goodwin to a school in Lewisham which used to be selective and is now choosing some pupils by lottery to see if she could convince sceptical parents. What if you live nearby, they ask. What if there is a brother or sister there already? But are these ways of choosing who gets what any better than a system of chance, which at least treats everyone equally? -- We also put our reporter through a driving simulator to try to find out if it is age or inexperience that causes young drivers to have more accidents. -- And we bring you the latest on our so far fruitless attempt to compare the statistics on hospital mortality for England with Wales.
| Series: | More or less |
|---|---|
| Episode | 2 |
| First transmission date: | 2006-06-29 |
| Published: | 2006 |
| Rights Statement: | Rights owned or controlled by The Open University |
| Restrictions on use: | This material can be used in accordance with The Open University conditions of use. A link to the conditions can be found at the bottom of all OU Digital Archive web pages. |
| Duration: | 00:24:13 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Michael Blastland |
| Presenter: | Andrew Dilnot |
| Contributors: | David Crundell; Robin Cummings; A. W Dilnot; Barbara Goodwin; Judith Klienfeld; Alex Lundi; John Lunn; Mayo Ogunlabi; Ian Roberts; Paul Robinson; Heather Ward; Caroline Wilkinson; Jonathan Wollf |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Subject terms: | Mathematical statistics; Social sciences--Statistical methods |
| Production number: | AUDA060B |
| Available to public: | no |
