Statistician • Researcher • Science Communicator • Dean • Professor in Applied Statistics and Data Visualisation
I'm Casper, a professor in Applied Statistics and Data Visualisation at the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences of the University of Groningen. Starting in 2024, I'm also dean of this faculty.
My main research line concerns science communication and statistical storytelling. Statistics, and more generally dealing with uncertaintly, is commonly acknowledged as complicated and counter intuitive. At the same time, we need to do this on a regular basis - whether one is a scientist analying data, or one belongs to the general public and wishes to understand current affairs. It is the task of the statistician to think about how to alleviate the burdens and to educate the public on this.
A second research line concerns psychological dynamic models, i.e. time series models adapted to deal with the particularities that are common in psychological momentary assessment. Furthermore, I like to collaborate with colleagues who encounter challenging statistical questions. The variety of my work is reflected in my publication record.
I publish my work regularly in a variety of outlets. These include journals dedicated to statistics and psychometrics, general scientific journals, and journals aimed at the social and behavioural sciences. I am a strong advocate of open science and (nearly) all publications are publicly available. My five most recent publications are:
I present my work on a regular basis at (international) conferences, seminars, public meetings, etc. Furthermore, I try to inform the general public about statistical issues. Between 2015 and 2024 I wrote columns on a regular basis for a variety of outlets, mostly in Dutch. These outlets include De Volkskrant, de UKrant and Nieuw Archief voor Wiskunde. Furthermore, I occasionally wrote blog posts. I'm currently in the process of updating my website, but aim to republish them here.