The Misuse of Statistics

Discussion

• It is easy to intentionally or unintentionally mislead people using statistics.
• There are some things we need to know to make sense of quoted statistics
  • How large is the sample size?
  • How was the sampling done?
  • Have ambiguous words been used to describe the results?
    • Average is often misused
    • largest/smallest are misused as well.
  • Have two things been compared where there is no basis for comparison?
  • Have things been weighted equally where they should not have been? (number of robberies in Erie vs robberies in Cleveland)
• When looking at charts
  • Are the proportions correct?
  • Have things been stretched to make a point?
  • Do percentages total to 100%

Homework