The role statistics have in our society

In my opinion, I think that statistics play an essential role for our society because there are so many things that rely on statistics. For example:

• Weather Forecasts
• Disease Predication
• Medical Studies
• Stock Markets
• Many more

I know that statistics are used to analyze what is happening in the world or what is going to happen in the future. Many things use statistics by collecting large quantities of numerical data and examining them to find different answers or possible solutions. Many businesses, studies, companies, and etc use statistics to find averages, as well as gathering up information to help finalize thoughts on products. Statistics will help many people determine whether a conclusion on something is trustworthy and which have enough credibility. They help realize whether a product will be of use to them or effect them negatively.

Newly found knowledge from the article

http://www.truthpizza.org/logic/stats.htm

After reading this article, I am definitely shocked at how many things go wrong with statistics. It makes me question “How do we accurately gather statistics and information?” also “Do statistics have enough credibility for us to trust the conclusions they make?”. Although, statistics aren’t always correct I still think they are valuable. Many times they do end up being accurate which can help us in so many things in our lives like all the examples I mentioned earlier.

It is important to use many different stats instead of expecting everything from an individual case because sometimes 1 case will assume something completely wrong. Statistics are very valuable because they open our eyes and help us understand everything more clearly. Statistics should be analyzed very carefully because of the amount of misleading headlines or tricks.

Different types of problems with statistics

Faulty statistics – Stats could easily be false (86% of statistics are made up on the spot, you know – the remaining 24% are mathematically flawed.– from an internet message board.) but, since statistics use specific values there is a little bit more credibility.

Bad sampling – Sampling can be useful but sometimes the sample could be very one sided which will effect the statistics. Also when the sample is smaller the chances of luck are much higher. One thing that sampling sometimes depends on are the amount of people who are willing to respond because the ones who do respond could very well be one sided which can mislead the stats (response bias).

Unfair poll questions – Polls can easily be manipulated and trick others to believing that the positive answer seems necessary, they are rigged because of how much you can play with the questions to get the response that is wanted.

Statistics that are true but misleading – Sometimes when statistics are accurate is can be different from what you think, sometimes its because the stat is not specific enough which can confuse people or sometimes it depends on the starting and ending points of data which can possibly change completely if the ending point was farther along or shorter.

Ranking statistics – A problem with ranking is that they are not categorized and also because there are no actual amounts told. Being ranked high does not guarantee a high amount or percentage.

Qualifiers on statistics – Qualifiers can narrow down options for being ranked the highest in something. Qualifiers also make things seem more impressive than they really are.

Percentages – Percentages are used at times instead of exact values, they make numbers seem bigger or smaller. Therefore, when the percentage is low but the quantity is high, they go with the number instead of the percentage and vise versa.