This section contains 1,611 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) |
The Uses and Abuses of Statistics
Summary: While statistics are useful in aiding our understanding of various subjects, they can also be used as a tool to manipulate and deceive people as they form perceptions and ideas about a particular subject. It is therefore important to be able to test the validity of statistical evidence that is presented to us and to determine whether to accept such evidence.
Our world is inundated with statistics, which are used to enhance the publics' understanding of a topic, or as a tool, to adroitly manipulate their perception and ideas. It may take a certain amount of acumen to be able to differentiate between these two scenarios, as to do this, one needs to take into account various essential aspects of statistics, which often pass, unnoticed. In this essay I will attempt to analyze the methods in which statistics are used to assist or deceive people, and to recognize ways in which we can test the validity of statistics presented to us ourselves.
As stated previously, statistics are everywhere and can be found ubiquitously throughout the different areas of knowledge, where in some cases, they are essential.
Within the scope of the human sciences alone, statistics can be found to be imperative, for example, statistics pertaining to the stock exchange...
This section contains 1,611 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) |