Damned Lies and Statistics:
Untangling Numbers from the Media,
Politicians, and Activists by Joel Best
Damn Lies And Statistics
When it comes to thinking about statistics, there are four kinds of people:
awestruck, naive, cynical, and critical. According to sociologist Joel Best,
the vast majority of people are naive (yes, you too probably suffer from a
mild case of innumeracy), and the result is mutant statistics, guesswork,
and poor policy decisions. Bad statistics live on, writes Best in this highly
accessible book, they take on lives of their own. Take this one: a
psychologists estimate that perhaps 6 percent of priests were at some
point sexually attracted to young people was transformed through a chain
of errors into the fact that 6 percent of priests were pedophiles. Then there
was the one about eating disorders. An original estimate that 150,000
women were anorexic, made by concerned activists, mutated into 150,000
women dying from the disorder annually (the truth: about 70 women a
year). But these two mutant statistics have been published and passed
along as facts for years, enduring long after the truth has been pointed out.

In an effort to turn people into critical thinkers, Best presents three
questions to ask about all statistics and the four basic sources of bad ones.
He shows how good statistics go bad; why comparing statistics from
different time periods, groups, etc. is akin to mixing apples and oranges;
and why surveys do little to clarify peoples feelings about complex social
issues. Random samples, it turns out, are rarely random enough. He also
explains what all the hoopla is over how the poverty line is measured and
the census is counted. What is the dark figure? How many men were really
at the Million Man March? How is it possible for the average income per
person to rise at the same time the average hourly wage is falling? And
how do you discern the truth behind stat wars? Learn it all here before you
rush to judgment over the next little nugget of statistics-based truth you
read. --Lesley Reed
Personal Review: Damned Lies and Statistics: Untangling
Numbers from the Media, Politicians, and Activists by Joel Best
First and foremost, as an avid fan of the topic of Statistics in general, I felt
compelled to read this book. I had read another of Joel Best's book, More
Damned Lies and Statistics: How Numbers Confuse Public Issues, and it
was shocking to say the least. In the process of deciding which book I was
going to read I contemplated between How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell
Huff, but I felt that book was more of a `pocket-guide' instead of a dense
book. Also, I wanted to read a book that was perhaps more current, in
terms of publication than Huff's book. Published in 2001, Best's book
shows some current social statistics, which perhaps may be more relevant
in our time period.
Upon finishing Best's book I notice that it was jam-packed with
information that the average person wouldn't know about every day
statistics. For example, he touches on the topic of AIDS statistics, and
prostitution statistics, in an effort to show that the statistics are skewed. In
my opinion, I think it was very appropriate that a sociologist wrote this book
because, it is virtually a reflection of how society reports, views, and
interprets statistics. It is mind-stirring when he shows that statistics on the
same subject cannot be accurately compared if they are from a different
time-period. Due to the fact that Ceteris Paribas is not present when
comparing statistics from different time periods, in essence they are like
comparing, as Best puts it, "apples to oranges".
Also, another startling area of the book is when Best describes the
misunderstanding and the fallacies that occur with reporting and
interpreting statistics. For instance, in chapter three of his book, he reports
that an estimated 150 thousand women are diagnosed with anorexia, or
better known as the most common eating disorders among young women.
While that may be a `good' statistic, people began to misinterpret that
statistic with the conclusion that 150 thousand women die because of
anorexia. This fallacy occurred because people assume that anorexia can
be fatal, and since 150 thousand of them had it, they then assumed all of
them died. This, as Best puts it, is far from the truth, as less than 100 of
them actually die (roughly around 70). He gives other examples of
common social problems with statistics and shows that a post-hoc fallacy

is very common in a world where people are rather naïve when it comes to
statistics in general.
Perhaps the notion of statistics causing social problems is one too
radical for the average American to recognize. How can statistics be the
cause of problems? Best also addresses that a `bad' statistics can cause
social problems. On page fifty, Best explains how "measurement decisions
are hidden" and often times some statistical reports ignore controversies
about measurement, and even well-established measures can be
controversial. Not surprisingly, some of the measurement decisions, are
just plain wrong. The reports to some statistics that the media feeds us
are just completely wrong.
Best mentions another rather relevant problem; "questionable
definitions". He cites that often times the definitions for a particular statistic
are vague and can easily be manipulated. He asks us to consider the
flurry of media coverage about `epidemics'. We must ask ourselves, what
is an epidemic? More importantly, how does the particular author reporting
the statistic define what an epidemic is? Making a vague statement like
that can be very dangerous to society. It can spread false fears, and in
essence, a misrepresented sense of reality. Another important factor
when determining if a statistic is manipulated is based on sample size.
Best gives us examples of how a small sample size is really a poor basis
for generalizations. For example, let's consider that I ask 3 women to give
their view on abortion and they can either choose pro-life or pro-choice.
My results are going to be 0%, 33.3%, 66.6%, or 100%, depending on their
responses. However, it is absurd to think that a true conclusion can be
drawn from such a small sample size.
I feel this book is a great book to read, not only for entertainment
purposes, but also as a preventative measure regarding everyday statistics
that we encounter. In his final chapter "The Critical Approach", he
requests that we use a method of critical thinking when viewing statistics.
The author encourages us as a society, to interpret statistics in a skeptical
manner, but warns us not to be cynical. We cannot just take statistics at
face value. I feel that we hold a responsibility to inform ourselves and view
new information with a skeptics view. It is vital to prevent social chaos by
swallowing every bit of numbers from the media, politicians, and activists.
I think that perhaps if society took a less naïve approach to things of this
nature, then we would not have so many "stat wars" in our society. Finally,
the most important part of the book is that it encourages the reader to take
a skeptic view on social statistics. I recommend this book to virtually any
active member of our culture.

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