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How to Lie with Statistics
Posted: February 13th, 2022, 11:07 pm
by plaguedbyfoibles
Currently reading the 1956 popular science book How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff.
Seems pretty good so far, and it has a varied selection of applicable and interesting real-world examples.
Re: How to Lie with Statistics
Posted: February 15th, 2022, 10:28 pm
by moorfield
plaguedbyfoibles wrote:Currently reading the 1956 popular science book How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff.
Seems pretty good so far, and it has a varied selection of applicable and interesting real-world examples.
I haven't read it but I''m sure it has as much relevance today as it did then, if not more so. The burgeoning Data Science industry is all about
telling stories it seems. Too much data can be as dangerous as not enough.
Re: How to Lie with Statistics
Posted: February 16th, 2022, 12:24 am
by AsleepInYorkshire
moorfield wrote:
I haven't read it but I''m sure it has as much relevance today as it did then, if not more so. The burgeoning Data Science industry is all about
telling stories it seems. Too much data can be as dangerous as not enough.
Information overload
I'm a human being. I am not a database. My memory isn't stable or reliable. It's human. I cannot digest 50 emails per day and recall the contents in 6 months time. When I had twenty sheep and two cows I was able to make a note of that in my book. Today I need to know
1. Where my twenty sheep were born
2. Who were their Mum and Dad
3. Where my twenty sheep were kept
4. When they were vaccinated
5. Where they were slaughtered
6. How far they had to travel to the slaughterhouse
Now I own a network computer and have one employee just filling in all the above details
But I still have 20 sheep
AiY(D)
Re: How to Lie with Statistics
Posted: February 16th, 2022, 7:34 am
by pje16
Is that enough to fall to sleep to if you count them
Re: How to Lie with Statistics
Posted: February 16th, 2022, 7:37 am
by moorfield
AsleepInYorkshire wrote:
But I still have 20 sheep
Er, no you don't, judging by #5 above. You need a new employee.
Re: How to Lie with Statistics
Posted: February 16th, 2022, 8:11 am
by AsleepInYorkshire
pje16 wrote:Is that enough to fall to sleep to if you count them
I've counted them and including VAT I've got 23
AiY(D)
Re: How to Lie with Statistics
Posted: February 16th, 2022, 8:40 am
by pje16
So VAT is still 15% in Yorkshire then
Re: How to Lie with Statistics
Posted: February 16th, 2022, 8:57 am
by AsleepInYorkshire
pje16 wrote:So VAT is still 15% in Yorkshire then
Nope
A Yorkshireman never tells you where his last sheep is
AiY(D)
Re: How to Lie with Statistics
Posted: February 16th, 2022, 5:47 pm
by plaguedbyfoibles
moorfield wrote:plaguedbyfoibles wrote:Currently reading the 1956 popular science book How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff.
Seems pretty good so far, and it has a varied selection of applicable and interesting real-world examples.
I haven't read it but I''m sure it has as much relevance today as it did then, if not more so. The burgeoning Data Science industry is all about
telling stories it seems. Too much data can be as dangerous as not enough.
Yeah I've read that the recommended modern follow-up to this is
The Tiger That Isn't: Seeing Through a World of Numbers, penned by a former chairman of the UK Statistics Authority (Andrew Dilnot), and the creator of the BBC Radio 4 / World Service programme More or Less (Michael Blastland).