Newstex publishers' stories: Tom Pfaff of Briefed by Data

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Please introduce yourself and Briefed by Data.

My name is Tom Pfaff, and I am a mathematics professor at Ithaca College with the uncommon distinction of having an undergraduate degree in exercise science as well as degrees in mathematics and applied statistics. My Briefed by Data website, unsurprisingly, focuses on data. I aim to clearly present the data we have related to current events to promote understanding of issues and aid decision-making. To be clear, people can make different decisions based on the same data because their value systems differ, but it would be helpful to first agree on what we know at the time.

When did you start Briefed by Data, and what pushed you to begin?

I started about two years ago. I have a statistical background, teach many statistics courses, and am generally curious. I also enjoy working with R and developing data visualizations. I was at a point where I wanted to try something new that combined some of my interests. Briefed by Data was born.

Has the focus of the blog changed since you started? If so, how?

It has not altered much. I do add a little more of my personal commentary in places instead of just presenting the data and graphs. 

Was there an early milestone, such as a post, subscriber count, or collaboration, that made you feel it was working?

I'm not particularly good at promoting the blog due to time constraints and the fact that I prefer researching and creating content over social media promotion. As a result, growth has been moderate and stable for the most part. I'm usually surprised when a post does well and brings in a surge of readers.

Where do your ideas come from? Can you give one recent example and how it became a post?

I am the type of person who cannot stop thinking about things. I read or scan a range of newsletters and journals. Every day, my mailbox overflows with Briefed by Data research. From there, I go with whatever piques my curiosity.

For example, I recently discussed NAEP math scores. I read something that made a general remark regarding dropping scores, and I was keen to know more. All government agencies and many private organizations publish all of their data, so I went in search of it. What I found was intriguing and worth writing about.

Where do you want Briefed by Data to be in two years?

I wish I could make a living doing this instead of just for fun. I could also do much more with the site itself. If I could be there in two years, that would be fantastic. Such an idea is also more wishful thinking than reality. For now, I enjoy researching and writing, and I will continue to post as long as this is the case.

Why did you decide to partner with Newstex?

As I mentioned above, I'm not a great promoter of Briefed by Data. It made logical sense for me to have Newstex assist with that.

Tom Pfaff is a tenured mathematics professor at Ithaca College. He considers himself an accidental academic and is also a gardener, drummer, rower, runner, inline skater, 46er, and R user. He's written the textbooks R for College Mathematics and Statistics and Applied Calculus with R. He welcomes any collaborations, and a full vita is available on his faculty page.