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How to Lie With Statistics (view source)
Revision as of 20:16, January 2, 2010
, 20:16, January 2, 2010no edit summary
The value of this of the book for learning critical thinking can be summarized by the last chapter, "How to Talk Back to a Statistic", where Huff presents five questions anyone should ask when presented with a statistical "fact":
The value of this of the book for learning critical thinking can be summarized by the last chapter, "How to Talk Back to a Statistic", where Huff presents five questions anyone should ask when presented with a statistical "fact":
:*Who says so?
:*Who says so?
:*How does he know?
:*How does the source know?
:*What’s missing?
:*What’s missing?
:*Did someone change the subject?
:*Did someone change the subject?
:*Does it make sense?
:*Does it make sense?
For example, the book is currently rated about 4.5 stars on amazon.com. <ref>http://www.amazon.com/How-Lie-Statistics-Darrell-Huff/dp/0393310728</ref> Using the book's method, the five questions can be answered accordingly (in the same order):
:*Amazon.com claims the book is rated 4.5 "stars".
:*The source has gathered ratings from anonymous buyers of the book.
:*There is not sufficient evidence that all the ratings are posted legitimately.
:*The subject has not been changed, but assumptions have been made about the ratings' authors.
:*The ratings seem to vary in quality enough to be considered legitimate at a glance.
==References==
==References==