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Do you analyse what you see/read?

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I was reading through a book called “How to lie with Statistics” and realised that WOW, there are many ways to lie with statistics and that I probably did fall into such “trap” being laid by advertisers.

Common ways to lie with statistics:

– 100% growth in sales (well, that’s because they sold 2 sets last year, and now they sold 4 sets)- Cropping away some parts of the graph or starting the graph at a point that puts the rivals/competitors in a bad light

Well, this got me thinking, How many of us analyse the graphs and content of post we read?

  • Question of

    Do you read scientific or articles with statistics?

    • Yes
    • No
    • Rarely
  • Question of

    Do you try to read and understand the statistics in the artciles?

    • Yes
    • No
  • Question of

    Do you try to understand what the graphs are trying to say?

    • Yes
    • No, I just see the percentage
  • Question of

    Do you think you’ve been tricked by statistics before?

    • Yes
    • No
  • Question of

    Do you agree with most of the scientific/research papers you read?

    • Yes
    • No
    • I usually give up halfway through
  • Question of

    Why do you not agree?

    • Yes
    • No
    • Wrong morals/values
    • Too boring to understand
    • I don’t read them

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analyseReadingstudy

Written by alibb

6 Comments

    • … And MAYBE what they wanted to achieve …
      I believe facts cannot be “different” … but one can pick to only show the part that benefits them

      1

  4. In many respects, politics, economics, business, and others, statistics have been widely used to manipulate public confidence. Some can be compared to direct reality but most do not. In many ways, depending on the context, I choose to ignore it.

    1

    • I used to make decisions on reviews and “most widely used” reports …
      but after the Youtube and Internet becomes popular then I realised the “Top 10” can really varies between people… lol

      In the end, its just me reading graphs as the advertisers wants me to … lol
      Now I don’t rely on only one source and some source
      Even our local “prestigious” newspaper can’t really be trusted