Preview

Statistics Should Be Interpreted with Caution

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
487 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Statistics Should Be Interpreted with Caution
Statistics should be interpreted with caution as they can be misleading; they can both lie and tell the truth.Discuss.

AS we all known that statistics plays a very important role in the social development. People use statistics in each field of science, such as physical sciences, humanities, especially the biological sciences. Statistics as a series of methods which used to summarize or describe our observations tell the person who made the statistics relative objective results or truth, at the same time, most of time statistician need use these observations to make estimates or prediction. The inference of prediction is an complex process and easily to be misleading. This essay will discuss the objectivity and the subjectivity of statistics and to remind people uses statistical results with caution.

On the one hand, if statistical institution or statistician uses proper methods with a sound attitude, the result of the statistic will tell people what is the truth, then help people to make correct solution. A recent statistics case is census of population in China. As everybody knows that China has large population. The government made policy which is a couple just to be allowed to born one child to tone down the speed of the population growth. But some of Chinese couple still want to born child more than one, so they born babies under the table. This phenomenon causes the teem of children who no identification card. For the objectivity of this census of population, the government made a new police which is if the family has more than one babies and tell the fact to government, the babies will be given the legal identity. Maybe the result of this statistics is breathtaking, but it is an objective statistics because it can tell government the truth or near the truth, then help the government make workable policies.

On the other hand, statistics is not always reliable, sometimes they can lie. As mentioned before, the process of statistic is very complex, it

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Chapter 12 Supplement

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages

    One of the most important things a buyer must do before making a purchase is to review any and all of the statistical research on a product. According to Bluman (2005), Statistical research is used to provide knowledge and information in order to enable us to make intelligent decisions about our health and welfare” (p.680). Although this information is very important to us, we must also be skeptical of the results. There are many types when the results cannot be reliable. According to Bluman (2005), “statistics can be misrepresented in the following ways: Suspect Samples, Ambiguous Averages, Detached Statistics, Implied Connections, Misleading Graphs, Faulty Survey Questions, Asking Biased Questions, Using Confusing Words, Asking Doubled-Barreled Questions, and Using Double Negatives” (p.680-685). The following are example of misuses of statistics.…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Week 1 Qnt 351

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Statistics is defined in Statistics for Business and Economics, as the science of data. Involves collecting, classifying, organizing, analyzing, and interpreting numerical information. Statistics is more than just looking at numbers, there is a process involved in obtaining the numerical information. Statistical thinking is helpful as well. This involves applying rational thought and the science of statistics to critically assess data and inferences. It is important to keep in mind that variations exist in populations and processed data.…

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Statistics are used in our everyday lives and business decision making. Statistics is a mathematical analysis that involves the use of quantified models, summaries and representations for real world observation or a given set of empirical information. This type of analysis involves the process if analyzing and collecting information and then summarize the information into a numerical format.…

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    BUS 308 Week 5 Final Paper

    • 1142 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Statistics provides us with very useful tools and techniques that aide us in dealing with real world scenarios. I have been able to learn several useful concepts by studying statistics that can aide me in making rational and informed decisions that are supported by the analysis results. Statistics as a discipline is the application and development of various processes put in place to gather, interpret, and analyse the information. The quantification of biological, social, and scientific phenomenons, design and analysis of experiments and surveys, and application of the statistical principles are all statistical procedures that are more advanced in nature. Even though the data can be applied to several areas of the human aspiration to implement the theory and methods of modern statistics to various different fields. Many useful elements were included in this course like descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, hypothesis development and testing, selecting appropriate statistical tests and evaluating the statistical results; which aides me to make better decisions in my personal and professional life. The intention of this paper is to be able to review each of these individual elements that we studied throughout this course.…

    • 1142 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Statistics involves the development of methods and tests that are used to quantitatively define the variability inherent in data, the probability of certain outcomes, and the error and uncertainty associated with those outcomes. Some statistics are biased, some are based on opinions, and some are fabricated.…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Population and Sampling

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Statistical data dates back to as early as Ancient Greek time, where it was introduced by John Graunt, William Petty and Pascal in the 16th century. It was then re-introduced by Gottfriend Achenwall in the 17th century. This was a very exciting time for scientists, astronomers and physicists alike as it raised the confidence and knowing that the laws of nature were not of divine intervention. As the years went on, new mathematical discoveries were made such as census data, economy, mortality demographics, and the International Statistical Congresses, which all led to changing its name to “statistics”.…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Paul Keating Analysis

    • 2020 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The third paragraph informs us of what we know through statistics. What is the effect of this technique?…

    • 2020 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    All statistical procedures have underlying assumptions, some more stringent than others. In some cases, violation of these assumptions will not change substantive research conclusions. In other cases, violation of assumptions will undermine meaningful research. Establishing that one's data meet the assumptions of the procedure one is using in an expected component of all quantitatively based journal articles, theses, and dissertations.…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Statistics Module 1

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Statistics are of value to us all. As learned throughout the readings for this week, they are there to provide us vast amount of data related to health care, including why a drug may be indicated for a certain treatment (or the likelihood of it working); parameters for disease signs and symptoms; and even the prevalence of certain disease(s) within our areas to ensure competent care can be provided for our community. As noted by Nursing Research (2011): “Health information is very often explained in statistical terms for making it concise and understandable (Basic Statistical Concepts, 2011, para. 1).” As established, statistics play a large role in research!! The bad news is, just like anything, statistical data can be misrepresented.…

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When most people hear or read a statistic, they quickly have to decide if the numbers listed are valid or invalid. It is usually assumed that the author of the statistic is knowledgeable in the field to which the statistic pertains. However, on many occasions, the statistic is false, due to the author’s wording. Darrell Huff’s novel How to Lie with Statistics is a manual that can help individuals catch these lies. The novel allows readers to solve marketing ploys and dismiss certain statistics as faulty.…

    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    TEAM REFLECTION WEEK 4

    • 707 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Statistics refers to the use of numerical information in everyday life to calculate facts and figures in limitless circumstances. In addition, statistics refers to the scientific collecting, classifying, summarizing, organizing, analyzing, and interpreting numerical data. The steps in testing a research hypothesis, to compare the means of two or more groups, and to calculate the correlation between two variables.…

    • 707 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Statistics is defined as the science of data, which involves capturing, analyzing, classifying, summarizing, organizing, and interpreting numerical data. Statistics are used in nearly every business, government, sports, and finance field. Statistics are the basis of how individuals collect data and make informed decisions based on fact, not hunches or emotion. Statistics have grown exponentially over the past 50 years from simple batting averages and gender demographics to an actual science used by businesses to predict trends and market growth.…

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Statisticulate is the process of misleading people using statistics. It is also misinforming with figures, or statistical manipulation might not be a mathematician purpose.…

    • 344 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    I totally agree with your post. Statistics are a vital asset when they are reputable and can be validated as true. I do not take everything I hear as truth. Statistics can easily be construed into what the person wants the data to mean for themselves or the situation present. Even more of a reason to always do research to make sure the information we are receiving is credible. Moreover, I am a firm believer that the web displays lots of information that is not completely trustworthy or authentic. In addition, I have also found Wikipedia to be a major popular site in which a lot of people flock to for information. Even more so as noted by Potash (2010, p. 98) that, “Popularity, however, does not ensure credibility.” It is evident that even though many people resort to the web and wikipedia for information and news, it is clear that even those popular sites contain unjustifiable information at times that lacks credibility. Much of the time we continue to utilize those sites out of routine because we take an interest in what those sites offer in content.…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Teen Pregnancy

    • 1732 Words
    • 7 Pages

    a) The problems that arise when using examples of authority is that statistics can be misinterpreted by the readers. Two legitimate sources on the same topic can provide two different stats. When the author uses statistics and theoretical research in the article it is simply used as an example, and not as a fact. Statistics can vary depending on the location and the results may be different.…

    • 1732 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays