1. Detecting misleading statistics
More practice and examples…

2. Terms for Misleading Statistics…
Fabricated statistics
Lies
Misunderstandings
Incomplete information
Bad sample for survey/experiment
Selection bias
Small sample sixe
Misunderstanding correlation to be causation
‘Finding What You Are Looking For’
Confirmation bias
Cherry Picking
Asking misleading questions
Ignoring the Baseline (True But Misleading)
Data Dredging
To Use Percentages or Not to Use Percentages
Extrapolating
Graphs: Scaling & Axis Manipulation
Using influential
Issues with reliability and validity

4. Reliability and Validity
A study published in journal Media Psychology proved that looking at your own Facebook profile pic is bad for your brain. —At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, 159 undergrads spent 5 minutes viewing either their own profile or a stranger’s. “They then completed an exercise designed to measure their self-esteem, in which the researchers assessed how quick they were to associate themselves with a list of positive and negative adjectives. Immediately afterwards, they took part in what they were told was an unrelated experiment: a cognitive ability test in which they counted down from 1,978, by intervals of seven, as quickly as possible for two minutes.” Those that looked at their own Facebook profile had greater self-esteem but counted about 15% slower than those who looked at others’ profiles.
What questions should you ask of this study to trust its reliability and validity?

5. The chart below shows there were massive increases in housing process from 1998 to 1999.
Method(s) Used to Mislead
Way(s) Example Is Misleading

6. A survey done at Tai Koo Hui mall of 500 Chinese 16-year olds (250 boys, 250 girls) revealed that the mean allowance Chinese 16 years old get for shopping is 450 RMB/each. (The median and mode were both close to 450 RMB).
Method(s) Used to Mislead –
Way(s) Example Is Misleading –

7. The African continent currently has 1. 1 billion people
The African continent currently has 1.1 billion people. By the year 2100, it will have 4.1 billion — more than a third of the world’s total population.  Related: Headline of a Sep article: “10 High-Paying Jobs That Don’t Exist Yet”
Method(s) Used to Mislead –
Way(s) Example Is Misleading –

8. A comprehensive study completed on the last 100 serial killers in the US has shown that 89% of all serial killers are right-handed. Note: the ‘concept’ of a serial killer came about in part due to the Industrial Revolution
Method(s) Used to Mislead –
Way(s) Example Is Misleading –

9. According to a survey conducted by A. C. Nielsen Co
According to a survey conducted by A.C. Nielsen Co. (a globally respected information and measurement company), an average person in the US has seen 150,000 violent acts on TV by the age of 18.
Method(s) Used to Mislead –
Way(s) Example Is Misleading –

10. The prospective employer asked Agnes, a hopeful employee to submit a resume with three reference letters. Agnes chose her university science teacher, her priest, and her best friend. They all wrote glowing reviews.
Method(s) Used to Mislead –
Way(s) Example Is Misleading –

11. An ad for nicotine gum (an alternative to cigarettes) says it can increase your chances of quitting smoking by 99.99%
Method(s) Used to Mislead –
Way(s) Example Is Misleading –

13. Related claim : Between May 2012 and August 2013, Facebook stock did not grow. It was around $35/share in both months.
Method(s) Used to Mislead –
Way(s) Example Is Misleading –

14. Related claim: Facebook stock is likely to grow by $20+/share over the next 3 months.
Method(s) Used to Mislead –
Way(s) Example Is Misleading –

15. People who believe that the world was designed by an intelligent force will marvel at the complexity of the human eye and other body parts that serve specific and elaborate functions. People who do not believe in an external intelligent force creating the world will focus on vestigial organs like the appendix which serve no apparent purpose and only do harm (without medical treatment) instead of good.
Method(s) Used to Mislead –
Way(s) Example Is Misleading –

16. 93% of the customer reviews on Amazon gave the book a 4 or 5 out of 5 stars, proving that the book is worth reading.
Method(s) Used to Mislead –
Way(s) Example Is Misleading –

17. Almost 50% of all people have looks that are above average.
Method(s) Used to Mislead –
Way(s) Example Is Misleading –

18. College students who sleep with their shoes on are much more likely to wake up with a headache than those who do not.
Method(s) Used to Mislead –
Way(s) Example Is Misleading –

19. According to Michael Moore’s documentary, “Bowling for Columbine” Americans have 300,000 more guns than Great Britain
Method(s) Used to Mislead –
Way(s) Example Is Misleading –

20. How global warming is interpreted…