Misuses of Statistics

• When looking at statistics you should ask...
  • What was the sample size?
  • How was the sample selected?
  • Does the statement have a meaning.
    • Words like biggest are problematic.
    • Words like average can be misused.
  • Was the question biased.
  • Long term trends indicated by short term results.
  • Incomplete or partial information
• Graphs can be constructed to be misleading.
  • Line graphs: watch the y axis.
  • Area and volume graphs, double should be double or triple.
  • Circle or pie charts should total 100%
• Do some problems page 781