John MacInnes is a professor of sociology at the University of Edinburgh. He has been advisor to the Economic and Social Research Council and British Academy on quantitative skills training and helped establish the Nuffield Q-Step programme. He is currently the vice president (professional affairs) of the Royal Statistical Society, a chartered statistician, and fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. He is a member of the UK Data Skills Task Force and the advisory board for Maths in Education and Industry. He has published articles and monographs on social demography, including population ageing, the sociology of identity and industrial sociology, as well as methods texts and articles about maths and statistics pedagogy.