The Moral Rules Of Statistics

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

In the video Don't Be Fooled By Bad Statistics posted by Emily Dressler three forms of bad statistics are discussed, poorly collected data, leading questions, and misuse if center. Information collected poorly will lead to misleading results and false conclusions. Dressler uses the example of data collected by researchers pertaining to magazine preference during business hours. The data is skewed because of the time of day the information was gleaned rendered the sample not representative of the entire population. Another form of bad statistics has to do with how the desired information was elicited. Leading questions may result in biased responses. Questions need to be worded carefully so the information collected is not influenced by the interviewer. Finally, the video talks about misuse of center. Data can be misleading if not appropriately analyzed. Outliers, an individual value that falls outside the overall pattern of data can prejudice the conclusion leading to incorrect assumptions. An example might be that of the man who drowned in a pond with an average dept of one inch. The pond was one quarter inch deep everywhere but in the center where there was a ten foot hole.

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 our textbook, Stephen Lucas (2012) writes, “Darrell Huff exploded the notion that numbers don’t lie. Strictly speaking, they don’t. But they can be easily manipulated and distorted” (Lucas, 2012, p. 148). He then gives examples of how easily statistics can be used to deceive instead of inform. Statements that are made can have some truth to them. However, they tend to omit certain specifics that could persuade one to believe that it is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Statistics can be used to mislead invalidating a theory or to support an opinion.

Statistics and the Christian Worldview In the world of statistics, it can be argued that there are some questions in how ethical statistics can be. Whether or not it is always truthful and what can be done to make it more trustworthy to even those with a Christian worldview. This essay will go through some of the underlying issues of statistics and how it can be incorporated into a Christian worldview.

When studying statistics, it is important to look all aspect of it, such as the statistical ethical guidelines. Another important to look at is how Christian World view can be applied to statistics. In this essay, the following will be discussed: statistical ethical guidelines, ethical issues from a Christian World view, and ethical issues.

Damned Lies and Statistics Reflection Damned Lies and Statistics by Joel Best gives the reader a whole new perspective on the idea of quantitative data. His central argument is that just because someone gives you a statistic doesn’t mean that statistic is accurate. He informs people to pay attention to the statistics that they see and hear about. People naturally assume that because they are being given a number, that number has to be true. Joel Best teaches us to be more observant of numbers and to ask questions such as who is presenting these numbers and why they are presenting them.

The assigned readings “A Christian View of the Foundations of Statistics” and “Reflection Before Action” both talked about ethical issues Christian and non-Christian statisticians face these days. Before I get into the details of how these two articles affect me, I would like to first summarize some common ethical issues statistical consultants are facing these days. In order to understand ethical issues in the statistical world, we need to understand 1) What is the typical ethical issues; 2) Why ethical issues are important to discuss and 3) How shall we avoid them.

The main goal of this chapter is to elucidate the explanatory target of this thesis. Empirical research on morality is abundant, but discussions about the nature of its explanatory target are often vague or completely absent. Building upon Sinnott-Armstrong and Wheatley’s (2012, 2013) ideas, I would like to argue that neither moral judgments nor moral norms are unified explanatory targets. In particular, I will argue that there is no property or set of properties that unifies all the members of the class of moral judgments or the class of moral norms—a negative thesis that I call the ‘disunity thesis’. I will explain why this issue matters (or should matter) for people working on the empirical research of morality, and I will put forward some

In Charles Wheelan’s Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data, Wheelan introduces many concepts fundamental to everyday life that escape the attention of even the most attentive human beings. Within these texts, Wheelan expresses that statistics, and therefore data, is an integral part of our lives, though it is often grossly misunderstood. With detailed descriptions of introductory statistical analysis, the author provides insights to the many misinterpretations and misrepresentations present in the statistical world today, often citing instances relatable to all people. Ads, commercials, campaigns, and any other mode of propaganda will contain data to support the cause of promotion, and for this reason—although not this reason alone—statistics has become intricate in our lives. The two most interesting points Wheelan makes refer to the intentional warping of data or computations to manipulate intended audiences; specifically, it is interesting to consider the moral obligation behind decision making versus the societal pressure added by the increasing use of statistics to rank or qualify oneself not to the world, but also to measure one’s self. Secondly, it fascinating to consider that statistical evidence that is seemingly unrelated to human life can explain phenomena intrinsic to human behavior and physiology previously misunderstood or unconsidered.

I agree with you, not all statistics can be trustworthy. We need more than one source to look out for information of any kind. About having a large range of data, Businesses use statistics to forecast sales, production, etc. they also estimate when and how much they need to increase the price of their products in order to maximize profit. According to Mirabella (2011), a sample size of 30 or more would be sufficed to any statistical test (Mirabella, 2011).

Statistics is important in understanding the information and communicating findings to one another (Healey, 2015). I never paid much attention to statistics before because math has always been my least favorite subject. I was very hesitant in taking this course but many people assured me that I could succeed and that statistics is far more interesting than any mathematical course I will ever take. Statistics is so relevant; the more I am noticing it because of knowledge I have obtained from this course. For example, the article I will be discussing defines the differences of gender and race within advertising (Plous & Neptune, 1997). Statistics can be used to analyze the amount of advertisements printed, the different gender and race of models, the year and percentage amount of gender and race bias occurs, the percentages of the exposure different gender and race models etc. I can’t say that I completely understand statistics but I very much enjoyed this course and when I read statistical information, I at least can analyze the information given rather than just passing off random numbers. We often need a strong proof and thoughtfully analyzed data to build and enhance our theory and understanding of something, which is what statistics provides to make sense of the data (Healey, 2015).

In the late 1930s, the American sociological establishment suspected that anyone committed to a specific set of religious beliefs and a specific religious institution would be ideologically incapable of scientifically objective research. During the 1937 annual meeting of the American Sociological Society (now the American Sociological Association), a small group of Catholic sociologists met to share their frustrations at the atmosphere and content of the meeting. As they saw it, scientific sociology on the model of the natural sciences was becoming a vehicle for amoral and antireligious attitudes of secular sociologists. The illogicality of value-neutral research was also an irritation: "Don't ask me how they could even talk about delinquency,

The first book, The Practice of Social Research by Earl Babbie discusses ethical issues in social research and the code of ethics that help guide researchers conduct their findings. Babbie states, "social researchers have ethical obligations to the community as well as to subjects. These obligations include reporting results fully and accurately as well as disclosing errors, limitations, and other shortcomings in the research" (84). Stats is a process of interviewing, collecting, processing, and presenting data to an audience. It is dishonest for a researcher to intentionally alter data or leave out important information.

This sentiment is a rather easy one to accept. However, it seems that she does not give details as to what other surveyors and statisticians should do and how they should do it. With no barriers or limits for what religion or spirituality is to people, surely, it will be more difficult for sociologists to measure variables in quantitative research. In addition, with the qualitative research methods that she uses, it would take more time to complete a story, in contrast to quantitative research. Nevertheless, her study affirms her notion of “sacred consciousness,” wherein there are many cases where there is a lack of an interdependent relationship between the religious individual and the institution. As a result, there are significant variations in the beliefs that both parties