Damned Lies and Statistics by Joel Best, University of California Press,
拢12.95/$19.95, ISBN 0520219783
STATISTICS had a bad reputation on both sides of the Atlantic in the 19th
century. We all know the aphorism that 鈥渢here are three kinds of lies: lies,
damned lies and statistics鈥�, usually attributed to Mark Twain or Benjamin
Disraeli. Sadly, things are no different today.
Come election time, shaky statistics are invariably wheeled out to support
the case that some aspect of social provision, be it crime prevention,
education, or healthcare, has got better or worse under the party in power. And
farmers affected by Britain鈥檚 epidemic of foot and mouth disease have expressed
considerable doubts about the accuracy of the official statistics.
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Joel Best aims to help readers pick their way through the maze. He outlines
the uses of social statistics and describes how to interpret apparently
contradictory conclusions. He also shows how to spot really bad
statistics鈥攖hose that are mangled or have questionable origins鈥攁nd
avoids the use of complicated maths.
Instead of remaining awestruck, naive or cynical, the reader will become
equipped with a more critical eye to statistics: less likely to believe, let
alone repeat, claims about the number of murdered children doubling each year,
for example. Definitely a must for politicians, activists and others who
generate or use statistics, but especially for those who want to think for
themselves rather than take as gospel every statistic presented to them.