Damned lies and statistics
Damned lies and statistics: untangling numbers from the media, politicians, and activists Joel Best
Publisher: Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.
ISBN: 0520219783
DDC: 303.38
LCC: HM535
Edition: (cloth : alk. paper)
Summary:
This book is a lively guide to spotting bad statistics and learning
to think critically about these influential numbers. Joel Best bases
his discussion on a wide assortment of intriguing contemporary issues
that have garnered much recent media attention, including abortion,
cyberporn, homelessness, the Million Man March, teen suicide, the
U.S. census, and much more. Using examples from the New York Times,
the Washington Post, and other major newspapers and television
programs, he unravels many fascinating examples of the use, misuse,
and abuse of statistical information. In this book Best shows us
exactly how and why bad statistics emerge, spread, and come to shape
policy debates. He recommends specific ways to detect bad statistics,
and shows how to think more critically about "stat wars," or disputes
over social statistics among various experts. Understanding this book
does not require sophisticated mathematical knowledge; Best discusses
the most basic and most easily understood forms of statistics, such
as percentages, averages, and rates. [publisher]
Notes:
Has companion book: More damned lies and statistics: how numbers
confuse public issues.
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