Statistics People Book Persuasive Lies American Make Based

"Statistics" is a type of math that collects, analyzes, and reports "quantitative data" (information with many numbers) about many topics. In the United States and in other countries, many people and organizations use statistics to persuade others to believe what they believe. When statistics are used correctly, they can be a good way to "support an argument" (present reasons for one's beliefs). But sometimes statistics are used incorrectly and are "deceptive" (make people believe something that isn't true).

A British man named Benjamin Disraeli once said, "There are lies, 'damned' (very bad) lies, and statistics," meaning that statistics can be even more deceptive than lies. American author Mark Twain "popularized" (made something well known by most people) this saying.

In the 1950s, Darrell Huff wrote a book called How to Lie with Statistics. The book is about how incorrect statistics, whether "intentional" (done on purpose) or "unintentional" (done by accident), and the "interpretation" (how something is understood) of those statistics can be used to make people come to the wrong "conclusion" (main idea based on all the available information). For example, the book describes how making a graph with "bars" (rows or column) in "three dimensions" (with length, width, and height) can make numbers seem bigger than if they are presented only in "two dimensions" (length and width).

Numbers can be very "compelling" (making one want to believe something), but that means that they can also be dangerous. In American schools, students are taught to support their arguments with "well founded" (solid, honest, and based in reality) statistics, but it can be difficult for people who are not statisticians to know which statistics they should believe.