This session examining some of the ways that statistics can be used to misrepresent information or mislead audiences was presented at Marquette University on April 23, 2008.
on “Twisted Statistics”! ! Introduction! ! Part I: When statistics go bad! ! Part II: Fun with Charts & Graphs! ! Part III: The Ten Commandments of Data Collection! ! Part IV: Online Resources! ! Questions and Conclusion!
or Sadistics?! “Statistics will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write.” -- H.G. Wells! “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics.” -- attributed (by different sources) to Mark Twain or Benjamin Disraeli! !
on “Twisted Statistics”! ! Introduction! ! Part I: When statistics go bad! ! Part II: Fun with Charts & Graphs! ! Part III: The Ten Commandments of Data Collection! ! Part IV: Online Resources! ! Questions and Conclusion!
to Conclusions! ! Claim: Several individual countries have improved their infant mortality rates more than U.S. since 1980.! ! Conclusion Offered: The state of health care in the U.S. is inadequate.!
is not Induction! ! Observation: Sally, Betty and Joanne are women.! ! Observation: Sally, Betty and Joanne love Harrison Ford.! ! Conclusion: All women love Harrison Ford.!
Things to Watch …! ! Make sure you’re getting the whole story! ! Consider the credibility of the original data source! ! Do a basic logic check - do the statistics make sense, or does something seem out-of-place?! ! In percentages, is the base too small!
on “Twisted Statistics”! ! Introduction! ! Part I: When statistics go bad! ! Part II: Fun with Charts & Graphs! ! Part III: The Ten Commandments of Data Collection! ! Part IV: Online Resources! ! Questions and Conclusion!
on “Twisted Statistics”! ! Introduction! ! Part I: When statistics go bad! ! Part II: Fun with Charts & Graphs! ! Part III: The Ten Commandments of Data Collection! ! Part IV: Online Resources! ! Questions and Conclusion!
Ten Commandments of Data Collection! 1. When you begin thinking about a research question, begin thinking about the type of data you need to collect to answer that question.!
Ten Commandments of Data Collection! 10. Follow the previous 9 commandments!! “Ten Commandments of Data Collection” courtesy of Neil J. Salkind, University of Kansas
on “Twisted Statistics”! ! Introduction! ! Part I: When statistics go bad! ! Part II: Fun with Charts & Graphs! ! Part III: The Ten Commandments of Data Collection! ! Part IV: Online Resources! ! Questions and Conclusion!
Resources! ! http://calculators.stat.ucla.edu/ => Almost every type of statistical calculator you could ever need! ! http://www.davidmlane.com/hyperstat/ => Hyperstat Online - An Introductory Statistics Guide and Online Tutorial!
Data Sources! ! http://www.census.gov/main/www/ access.html => US Census Data! ! http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/ stats.html => The University of Michigan Statistical Resources (statistical data on dozens of topics from accidents to world development)!
on “Twisted Statistics”! ! Introduction! ! Part I: When statistics go bad! ! Part II: Fun with Charts & Graphs! ! Part III: The Ten Commandments of Data Collection! ! Part IV: Online Resources! ! Questions and Conclusion!
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