Bad Statistics and Deception in the Media

He author also uses statistics to inform the readers with facts. For example he says, “If you’re like the typical owner, you’ll be pulling your phone out 80 times a day.” He uses statistics to inform and persuade the the

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

Confirmation bias is the tendency for a person to search for information that solely helps support their opinion or hypothesis. For example, I’ve observed the media doing this a lot. One example that’s trending now, is that Kylie Jenner is pregnant. The media keeps going on and on about it, although none of the family members have confirmed this. The media seems to keep bringing to light the fact that she’s wearing baggy clothes, buying a box of donuts, or having a party in her backyard, which they say was her baby shower. They media ignores the fact that she’s a teenager and lots of teenagers eat unhealthy. Or the fact that she always hosts lots of different events for other people at her house, which we see on their show. The media

Looking at the nightly news, many would believe violent crimes are at an all-time high. There is no longer just one on one violent crimes or gang violent crimes. There are court shootings, school shootings, church shootings, theater shootings, mall shootings, workplace shootings, and others. Most one on one crime is committed with an illegal gun; whereas most mass shootings are done with handguns that are purchased legally. Although, violent crimes reported on the nightly news is hard to hear or see. It has become very common to encounter this information on a daily basis. The numbers seem to be overwhelming; statistics share violent crimes are at an all-time low. While the numbers of crimes are decreasing, gun ownership

• Provide at least two examples or problem situations in which statistics was used or could be used.

It is important that news broadcasting networks do not let personal bias effect the story that’s being told to its audience. People who watch the news, opinions are heavily influenced by the information given to them. Viewers think their opinion is original but are unaware that the information they receive is biased and is meant to influence and form their opinions about a certain topic or argument. Many believe that the news is unbiased and factual because journalist or experts are providing them with evidence.When, in fact, these news outlets are filled with producers, reporters, and writers, who share the same viewpoints. This is groupthink and groupthink is very prominent in news broadcasting networks. Groupthink is when a group of people who share the same ideologies make decisions as a group. In an interview with Fox Business’s John Stossel, Bernie Goldberg explains that groupthink effects the viewer because like-minded people at news networks only show the audience one-side of an argument or story because of their personal opinions on a the topic. This means that news

3. According to the authors, what are the “three simple steps to doing Statistics right?” 4. What

Statistics, facts, data, and comparisons are absorbing and challenging to present in a way that is anything other than, well, boring. For purposes of an informational presentation, the statistics are unavoidable. However, in this

the audience, and it is hard to put it to perspective. Therefore, a statistic is appealing to the

Who was it that sat behind the computer screen and typed what would soon be published in your favorite newspaper? When you read anything in the newspaper you do not know much about the author of the article aside from his or her name. With such little knowledge, how can you discern whether you are being presented with an article that is in compliance to reality or rather a story that has been transformed because of an author’s biased attitudes? Take for example The Fourth Branch, a student run newspaper at Tennyson High School. Writers of the newspaper do not have any special certification or degree, rather they are journalist enthusiasts who write about a wide range of news articles.

There were 5 areas in this section. The insensitivity to base rates stated that we almost always ignore these even if there is false information provided. The insensitivity to sample size is the fact that we ignore what is presented to us, and do not take the sample size into account at all. The misconceptions of chance states that outcomes will be random, even if there is no valid statistical reason for it. The regression to the mean is us ignoring the fact that things can change over time. The example in the text was batting averages, and how they can widely differ over time. The conjunction fallacy is when we judge falsely that two items in a subset are more important than any one item. We tend to think the more descriptive label if more accurate than just a plain label. It seems simple but we feel that being more descriptive is the right thing to

You wrote a very good post and I agree with you that the media was motivated by racial bias. I am sorry that you have to have to feel that you have to live in fear with our current society and the way the media portrays your race. This is wrong in every sense of the word no one should have to live that way because of the color of their skin. I feel that this needs to start at home and parents need to teach their children that it matters what is on the inside of people not the outside. “In Western society, race is considered a primary aspect of personal identity” (Wood, 2016, p. 55). I believe that this is part of the problem, with the stereotypes that some of society has between blacks and whites. The color of our skin is part of all of us

In his 2013 book, Naked Statistics, Charles Wheelan explains a field that is commonly seen, commonly applied, and commonly misinterpreted: statistics. Though statistical data is ubiquitous in daily life, valid statistical conclusions are not. Wheelan reveals that when data analysis is flawed or incomplete, faulty conclusions abound. Wheelan’s work uncovers statistics’ unscrupulous potential, but also makes a key distinction between deliberate misuse and careless misreading. However, his analysis is less successful in distinguishing common sense from poor judgement, a gap that enables the very statistical issues he describes to perpetuate themselves.

In How to Lie with Statistics (Huff, 1954), Darrel Huff deciphers statistical examples and explains the means of deception that statistics and statisticians sometimes use to relay false information. Huff also conveys an underlying message of don’t believe everything you’re told, something him and my mother have in common. At first glance, a reader might think that this book will teach people how to actually lie using statistics, but that is not the case. It gives the reader a glimpse or a behind the curtain view of how easily it is to be deceived using numbers and how it is slyly achieved. Ironically he calls the book How to Lie with Statistics almost to tease his audience that the content in this book is not as it appears. To my utmost surprise, I actually rather enjoyed this book. It was a fairly simple read that was filled with new information and showed me how to look closer at statistical figures in the future. The humor was spot on so much, so that I even chuckled aloud occasionally. For the icing on the cake, I even expanded my vocabulary to learn fun words such as rotogravure.

Only because your friend only has an iPhone 6s charger and not android you can’t blame them for not carrying an android one it isn’t their fault it’s just personal preference and one shouldn’t be judged for it no matter how much you don’t like it it’s called toleration.