1. Based on your reading of ARQ chapter 10, “Are Any Statistics Deceptive?”, summarize how the following types of statistics can be deceptive. What are some strategies you can use to determine how reliable each type is?
- Unknowable and biased statistics
- A problem with Unknowable and Biased Statistics is that we often don’t know how or where the numbers are coming from. We can determine reliability by finding more information on the statistics.
- Confusing averages
- averages are not always reliable as there are different methods to find averages but also that there are many events that do not follow averages.
- Measurement errors
- Measurements are generally subject to error. The more thorough the research the less likely for error.
- Concluding one thing, proving another
- Statistics may deceive us in what they actually are proving. To determine reliability we often have to question ourselves and the authors intentions.
- Deceiving by omitting information
- Statistics may also be deceptive in that they do not give the full results.We may need to further investigate and research where the numbers are coming from.
2. In the following paragraph, identify the inadequacies in the evidence:
Campaigns for national office are getting out of hand. Money is playing a central role in more and more elections. The average winner in a senate race now spends over $8 million on their campaign, while typical presidential candidates spend more than $300 million. It is time for some serious changes, because we cannot simply allow politicians to buy their seats through large expenditures on advertisements.
- The inadequacies in this evidence may include confusing averages as we don’t know which presidential campaigns the numbers were taken from.
3. In the following paragraph, identify the inadequacies in the evidence:
The home is becoming a more dangerous place to spend time. The number of home-related injuries is on the rise. In 2010, approximately 2300 children aged 14 and under died from accidents in the home. Also, 4.7 million people are bitten by dogs each year. To make matters worse, even television, a relatively safe household appliance, is becoming dangerous. In fact, 42,000 people are injured by televisions and television stands each year. With so many accidents in the home, perhaps people need to start spending more time outdoors.
- The evidence in this paragraph could be concluding one thing but proving another. We don’t know the reasoning behind the statistics. These things feel unrelated to spending time in home, rather that the examples and statistics given prove that there are outlying factors.
