Comment on Cathy, do the math.
ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 4 weeks agostatistics can be abused
They can be abused, by people who understand statistics talking to people who don’t understand statistics. This is a good reason to learn statistical methods rather than reject them.
cynar@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
There are levels of abuse, some blatant, some subtle. Leading questions are obvious, when you have the question asked. Publishing bias is difficult to spot, even for trained scientists looking for it.
Learning about statistical methods isn’t enough. People need to be taught how to weigh the data presented against the value of misleading them.
It’s a subsection of logical reasoning, and needs to be taught as part of an integrated whole.
TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.zip 4 weeks ago
I think statistically (pun intended) there are more problems with people ignoring statistics or plain lying, than statistics being abused
oo1@lemmings.world 4 weeks ago
A bit of healthy scientific skepticism or logical reasoning with some skills to evaluate sources of evidence and biases help with both understanding quoted stats, and liars and the ill-informed.
It’s a difficult and time consuming skill to learn and use though.
cynar@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Even a small amount of statistic abuse will break blind trust in them. Once that trust is gone, some people will reject all of them, rather than try and differentiate.
Low grade abuse of statistics and related methods is rampant in low grade media.
TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.zip 4 weeks ago
But blind trust in everything else never breaks?