![]() ![]() ![]() The very final example of the book concerns trends. What's missing check whether the raw figure justifies the conclusion drawn and, most straightforwardly of all, ask yourself if the statistic makes sense. ![]() name" is cited, make sure it stands behind the information, not merely beside it) ask how the authority knows try to find out Look for bias, he advises, conscious and unconscious find out "who-says-so" (if an "O.K. Here Huff explains "how to look a phoney statistic in the eye and face it down and no less important, how to recognize sound and usable data in wilderness of fraud". Suspects clearly and simply, rounding off with the most useful topic of all: How to Talk Back to a Statistic. Biased samples, dubious graphs, semi-attached figures: he describes all the usual This is the word coined by Darrell Huff to describe misinformation by the use of statistical material. How to lie with statistics By Darrell HuffĪlthough this book is 50 years old this year, its wisdom is needed now more than ever, as increasing computer power and our headline-obsessed media look set to drown us all in a sea of "statisticulation". ![]()
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