Can People Lie with Statistics?
Is research-especially research involving numbers-always as “factual” as we think? Not according to the great English politician Benjamin Disraeli, who once remarked, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics!” In a world that bombards us with numbers-often described as “scientific facts” or “official figures”-it is worth pausing to consider that “statistical evidence” is not necessarily the same as truth. For one thing, any researcher can make mistakes. For another, because data do not speak for themselves, someone has to interpret what they mean. Sometimes, people (even sociologists) “dress up” their data almost the way politicians deliver campaign speeches-with an eye more to winning you over than getting at the truth. The best way not to fall prey to statistical manipulation is to understand how people can mislead with statistics. 1. People select their data. Many times, the data presented are not wrong, but they are not the whole story. Let’s say someone wh
