How to Read Numbers: A Guide to Stats in the News (and Knowing When to Trust Them)
- Downloads：4070
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-05-11 10:50:55
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Tom Chivers
- ISBN：1474619967
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
‘Even one glass of wine a day raises the risk of cancer’
‘Hate crimes have doubled in five years’
‘Fizzy drinks make teenagers violent’
Every day， most of us will read or watch something in the news that is based on statistics in some way。 Sometimes it’ll be obvious – ‘X people develop cancer every year’ – and sometimes less obvious – ‘How smartphones destroyed a generation’。 Statistics are an immensely powerful tool for understanding the world; the best tool we have。 But in the wrong hands， they can be dangerous。
This book will help you spot common mistakes and tricks that can mislead you into thinking that small numbers are big， or unimportant changes are important。 It will show you how the numbers you read are made – you’ll learn about how surveys with small or biased samples can generate wrong answers， and why ice cream doesn’t cause drownings。
We are surrounded by numbers and data， and it has never been more important to separate the good from the bad， the true from the false。 HOW TO READ NUMBERS is a vital guide that will help you understand when and how to trust the numbers in the news – and， just as importantly， when not to。
‘Hate crimes have doubled in five years’
‘Fizzy drinks make teenagers violent’
Every day， most of us will read or watch something in the news that is based on statistics in some way。 Sometimes it’ll be obvious – ‘X people develop cancer every year’ – and sometimes less obvious – ‘How smartphones destroyed a generation’。 Statistics are an immensely powerful tool for understanding the world; the best tool we have。 But in the wrong hands， they can be dangerous。
This book will help you spot common mistakes and tricks that can mislead you into thinking that small numbers are big， or unimportant changes are important。 It will show you how the numbers you read are made – you’ll learn about how surveys with small or biased samples can generate wrong answers， and why ice cream doesn’t cause drownings。
We are surrounded by numbers and data， and it has never been more important to separate the good from the bad， the true from the false。 HOW TO READ NUMBERS is a vital guide that will help you understand when and how to trust the numbers in the news – and， just as importantly， when not to。
Reviews
Brian Clegg
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This is one of my favourite kinds of book - it takes on the way statistics are presented to us， points out flaws and pitfalls， and gives clear guidance on how to do it better。 The Chivers brothers' book isn't particularly new in doing this - for example， Michael Blastland and Andrew Dilnot did something similar in the excellent 2007 title The Tiger that Isn't - but it's good to have an up-to-date take on the subject， and How to Read Numbers gives us both some excellent new examples and highlight This is one of my favourite kinds of book - it takes on the way statistics are presented to us， points out flaws and pitfalls， and gives clear guidance on how to do it better。 The Chivers brothers' book isn't particularly new in doing this - for example， Michael Blastland and Andrew Dilnot did something similar in the excellent 2007 title The Tiger that Isn't - but it's good to have an up-to-date take on the subject， and How to Read Numbers gives us both some excellent new examples and highlights errors that are more common now。The relatively slim title （and that's a good thing） takes the reader through a whole host of things that can go wrong。 So， for example， they explore the dangers of anecdotal evidence， tell of study samples that are too small or badly selected， explore the easily misunderstood meaning of 'statistical significance'， consider confounders， effect size， absolute versus relative risk， rankings， cherry picking and more。This is all done in a light， approachable style that makes the book a delight to read。 Just occasionally the jokes are a little heavy-handed （as when they gave examples based on people buying their book）， but it's all nicely balanced， informative and laser-accurate in pinpointing the errors we see day after day from the media。 The book finishes with a 'statistical style guide' for journalists， which should be printed out and placed on every desk in a media outlet。Off the top of my head， the only major issue they don't address is spurious accuracy - though this is indirectly covered in asking for statistics to be given with confidence intervals。 Overall， an excellent addition to the armoury of good use of statistics。 I suspect a self-selecting readership will result in the Chivers brothers largely preaching to the converted - but if even a few media sources take the hint it will be well worth it， and even if they don't， it gives readers the tools to recognise misuse of statistics in many cases。 。。。more
Steve Black
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