Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

[Aztec Triogal]

A quote from Benjamin Disraeli, which you stinky Brits should know. In a fellow Sleeping Forest thread (drinking - good, better, or totally awesome), Decado brought up the point that statistics are often deceiving. He is right, the are. Not only do statistics often misrepresent what you believe them to demonstrate but many can be portrayed in a particular light in order to force a certain point of opinion.

What do you people think about misleading statistics?

What do you think about their impact on people's understanding of facts?

What do you think about their usage to manipulate others?

 

[Bun]

I think they're fine to use at times when looking for a rough estimate, which I even said in my post in the drinking thread, but apparently was completely ignored. >_> Anyway, the people who are swayed or 'manipulated' by them deserve to be if they cannot take the information with a grain of salt; sometimes it's obvious there has been a miscalculation, and sometimes it's actually quite accurate. It just depends on what the situation is and how large a scale it's being measured on. In that case, you can't always say statistics are wrong.

But isn't that just a more narrowed form of propaganda? Many outlets use different ways to force their opinions and ideals on others.

 

[der Astronom]

I don't rely on them. Which is why it's often hard for me to make comments on them. It's like some people say that people with religion are happier than people who aren't; they read this in some article which might have provided some statistics. But how do I know that's not a fraud or it was inaccurate?

People get their confidence from stuff that is actually stated; it doesn't matter who or what the source is. So long as it's there, they are more likely to believe it. But because they sometimes forget that their sources can be unreliable, they don't consider that what they have read might be wrong. A newspaper, for example, might tell you things. But how many people actually bother to figure out what is meant when numerical figures are involved in ads or articles? How many people know or can figure out what actually happened and what was or wasn't exaggerated? Most people probably don't consider this. They just believe it because it was so dramatic and interesting that it must be true.

The only thing that doesn't lie is math. It is the first step towards finding the truth.