I think the role of statistics in our society has a large influence on the choices made, and therefore the environment we live in. For example, if 40% of a city’s population travels/commutes by bike, the city would consider adding a dedicated bike lane.

After reading, I have learned that statistics play a big part in the safety & choices made for good, but I also learned that some statistics are untrustworthy & misleading.

Some problems with statistics are the questionability of the source/truthfulness, as well as misleading, undetailed statistics that deter people from things.

When I first read the article, I thought…

Advertisements would want to use data such as others’ preference of a product over another,  to sway the consumer over to purchase their product.

After learning about influencing factors, I now think…

The more expensive shirt would be considered “premium” and would be somewhat of a status. Because… of the age group (grades 7-12 [although only 12 was analyzed]).

In the future, when reading and interpreting survey data I will …

Look at influencing factors, and see how the targeted groups would choose what they did.