When reviewing quantitative content in the geography curriculum, amongst other things it is important to review developments in data analysis outside of the discipline of geography. In this response to the paper by Johnston et al. (2014), a number of such developments are considered. In particular, the issues of big data, data journalism, reproducibility and statistical inference are discussed. In conclusion, it is argued that all of these would make some kind of positive contribution to the geography curriculum, providing in the words of Johnston et al. (2014) ‘an important role in the formation of an informed citizenry in data-driven, evidence-based-policy societies’.