Trends In Causality for England, 2014/w23 – 2022/w46 (part 1)

Statistical analysis of a dataset obtained under FOI by Joel Smalley revealing weekly deaths by date of death, age, sex and primary cause of death.

Back on 13 Dec 2022 über dude Joel Smalley of Dead Man Talking fame gave a Christmas present to his fellow warriors, this being a data dump from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealing the death tally by date of death (as opposed to date of death registration, which can muddy the water) by week for the period 2014/w23 to 2022/w46 by sex, age band and primary cause for the fair nation of England.

Now this is very exciting stuff indeed, causing me to do a little happy dance just like Gregg Wallace on BBC’s Masterchef. I’ve been rumbling around the edges of the data since then, waiting for a window of opportunity to open in my schedule, and today is the day to flour my hands and get baking!

Age band-wise the ONS get very touchy about something they call ‘disclosure’, this meaning ordinary folk being able to identify the demise of some poor soul by virtue of their date and manner of death, especially when national counts are few and far between. Thus, gone are my favourite quinar…