• Home
  • About
    • About
    • Mission Statement
    • Partners
    • Campaigns
    • Privacy Policy
    • Inaccuracies
  • Contact
  • Join now!
    • Join now!
    • Volunteer!
  • Donate
  • Submit Article
  • Science Facts
  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Mission Statement
    • Partners
    • Campaigns
    • Privacy Policy
    • Inaccuracies
  • Contact
  • Join now!
    • Join now!
    • Volunteer!
  • Donate
  • Submit Article
  • Science Facts
  • Neil deGrasse Tyson Speaks out on Sci...

     Posted by Jeffrey Simons, StarTalk Social Media Director: Two weeks ago, Senator Cory Booker was one of our guests at StarTalk Live! at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, [...]

    Read more
  • trump cartoon

    How We Got To Where We Are

    Cartoon by Adam Zyglis, America First: January 27, 2018 When I look around I see poverty, destruction of nature, inequality.  I see a celebration of ignorance and apathy.  I’ [...]

    Read more
  • Robots in workplace ‘could create dou...

    Car being built by robots in Tesla factory I’ve been saying this myself for years. One job is replace [...]

    Read more
  • Electric Cars Are Actually Terrible for the Environment!

    Electric Cars Are Actually Terrible f...

    Tesla with exhaust pipes You have surely seen this headline before. Maybe you read the article, maybe you just sighed and moved on.  (more…)

    Read more
  • Carl Sagan quote body of knowledge science way of thinkning

    Scientific Literacy Isn’t just ...

      This post relates a lot to the above quote. When people think of scientific literacy it makes sense that they think it’s general scientific knowledge and unders [...]

    Read more
  • Koko – A Tribute to the Gorilla Who Knew Sign Language

    Koko – A Tribute to the Gorilla...

    source: The Gorilla Foundation /Koko.org The worlds coolest gorilla has died (yes even cooler than Harambe). You see this Gorilla could speak with humans using real words. Ko [...]

    Read more
  • Home
  • General Science
  • Featured
  • The Problem With Statistical Evidence
We Are The Part Of The Universe That Knows The Universe
Why Government Defers To Science Rather Than Science Deferring To Government

The Problem With Statistical Evidence

5th March 2015 Written by Johny Krahbichler
Just look at the evidence. Nuclear power makes people drown!
image-39

Just look at the evidence. Nuclear power makes people drown!

While statistics are extremely valuable, they are also notorious for being a means that people use to make false and misleading arguments.

86% of statistics are made up on the spot, you know – the remaining 24% are mathematically flawed.- Anonymous

Also far too often statistics are obtained by taking a sample from a larger group and assuming the whole group has the same characteristics as the sample. Which is just bad science, rather than straight out lying.

Then there’s the problem with statistics that are true but misleading

Even when statistics are technically accurate, particular statistical facts can be very misleading. So statistics can certainly be useful, but should never be trusted as evidence. Statistics when used to prove something always need to be accompanied by information on how it was gathered.

Here are some excellent, and rather humorous examples of just that:

These graphs were made using software that finds spurious correlations, and some of them are quite entertaining to say the least.

1
image-40

1a
image-41

2
image-42

2a
image-43

3
image-44

3a
image-45

4
image-46

4a
image-47

5
image-48

5a
image-49

6
image-50

6a
image-51

7
image-52

7a
image-53

8
image-54

8a
image-55

9
image-56

9a
image-57

10
image-58

10a
image-59

11
image-60

11a
image-61

12
image-62

12a
image-63

13
image-64

13a
image-65

14
image-66

14a
image-67

15
image-68

15a
image-69

16
image-70

16a
image-71

18
image-72

18a
image-73

So when presented with a claim accompanied by statistical evidence, remember to stay skeptical. Question the methods of how they were gathered as well as the circumstances. Statistics should not be enough to convince an intelligent human being.

funny statistics
image-74

Facebook Comments

Comments

comments

Featured, General Science
can you trust statistics, funny statistical correlations, maths, paper, problems, report, science, skepticism, statistics decieve, statstics, what problems can occur with the reporting of statistical evidence?
Similar posts
  • Scientific Literacy Isn’t just ... — .fb-comments,.fb-comments span,.fb-comments span iframe[s...
  • Astronomy As A Tourist Attraction — .fb-comments,.fb-comments span,.fb-comments span iframe[s...
  • What Does Science Say About Detoxing? — .fb-comments,.fb-comments span,.fb-comments span iframe[s...
  • How To Know Which Information Is Accu... — .fb-comments,.fb-comments span,.fb-comments span iframe[s...
  • Why We Founded Scientific Literacy Ma... — .fb-comments,.fb-comments span,.fb-comments span iframe[s...
We Are The Part Of The Universe That Knows The Universe
Why Government Defers To Science Rather Than Science Deferring To Government

Welcome to Scientific Literacy Matters

Scientific Literacy Matters (SLM) is a non profit organization that works to promote scientific literacy in society with the long term goal of creating a better world.

Like our Facebook page

Like our Facebook page

Popular posts on SLM:

  • Popular
  • Latest
  • Today Week Month All
  • Study Attempts To Identify The Most Ignorant Countries In The World Study Attempts To Identify The Most Ignorant Countries In The World
  • Just look at the evidence. Nuclear power makes people drown! The Problem With Statistical Evidence
  • Carl Sagan On The Issue Of ‘God’ Carl Sagan On The Issue Of 'God'
  • Neil deGrasse Tyson Addresses The Current Scientific Illiteracy Crisis Neil deGrasse Tyson Addresses The Current Scientific Illiteracy Crisis
  • Wise Words By Carl Sagan About Scientific Literacy Wise Words By Carl Sagan About Scientific Literacy
  • Infographic: 20 Cognitive Biases Infographic: 20 Cognitive Biases
  • The Importance Of Understanding Technology The Importance Of Understanding Technology
  • If Two Pieces Of Metal Touch In Space They Stick Together Permanently If Two Pieces Of Metal Touch In Space They Stick Together Permanently
  • Neil deGrasse Tyson Speaks out on Science Activism Neil deGrasse Tyson Speaks out on Science Activism
  • Cartoon by Adam Zyglis, America First: January 27, 2018 How We Got To Where We Are
  • Robots in workplace ‘could create double the jobs they destroy’ Robots in workplace ‘could create double the jobs they destroy’
  • Electric Cars Are Actually Terrible for the Environment! Electric Cars Are Actually Terrible for the Environment!
  • Scientific Literacy Isn’t just Knowing Science Facts Scientific Literacy Isn’t just Knowing Science Facts
  • EXC PRINT BEFORE WEB / Help Koko be the "Voice of Nature." - Koko responds to a request to represent the "Voice of Nature" in a scripted PSA at the Paris Climate Summit (COP21). Koko is currently one of the only non-human great apes in the world who can "talk" to humans, and serve as an ambassador for endangered species 
source: The Gorilla Foundation / /Koko.org
1733 Woodside Rd., Suite 330, Redwood City, CA 94061
1 800-ME-GO-APE (1 800-634-6273) Koko – A Tribute to the Gorilla Who Knew Sign Language
  • This Darknet Site Liberates Scientific Data This Darknet Site Liberates Scientific Data
  • The War on Drugs Is a War on People The War on Drugs Is a War on People
Ajax spinner

Advertisement

SLM is partly ad supported

© Scientific Literacy Matters 2013 - 2019