Perils of Perception: The Perception Gap

People's understanding of the state of society is often based on personal experiences and views we hear around us rather than more objective evidence. There are many issues where public perceptions are out of step with the data -- such as levels of crime, proportion of Government money spent on overseas aid and benefit levels. Why do these perception gaps arise? Do they matter? If so, what can be done to better align public understanding with the facts? Panel:

• Hetan Shah, Executive Director, The Royal Statistical Society (Chair)
• Robert Chote, Chairman, Office for Budget Responsibility
• Mark Easton, Home Editor, BBC
• Jill Rutter, Programme Director, Institute for Government
• Professor Ken Young,  Programme Director, Public Policy, Kings College London
• Bobby Duffy, Managing Director, Ipsos Social Research Institute