REFLECTION

Formative Assessment 5 - Reflection paper on How to Lie with Statistics

In How to Lie with Statistics by Darell Huff, H.G. Wells told us that statistical thinking will one day be a

necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write. And I agree with his statement because statistical

thinking makes our mind work and think outside of the box, and us citizen needs that kind of thinking in order for us

to be a well-mannered citizens.

When given a set of data, we often feel intimidated by it and therefore not ask any questions about it. But

this just leaves us at the hands of the manipulators of data, plotting to manipulate us once more. Now knowing what

question we should ask, don’t take the information as it is, until you have asked the right questions. And this can

also be applied in our everyday life. Question almost everything that is given to you, then maybe it will help you

understand why it is happening and how you can solve such challenges. Have a critical mind and don’t be afraid to

ask questions for it your right to know what is being given to you.

Statistics is about analyzing data but not just any data will do. When we want to make inferences from data,

we need to ensure that representative samples were taken from a population. We gather a subset of data from a

population and use the statistical methods for that sample to draw conclusions about the population. When we gather

information from the entire population that would be difficult and expensive. So that, statistical inference is the

process of making an estimate prediction or decision about a population based on a sample. Shoot marketers can

deliberately twist numbers in order to sway potential customers. While a biased sample introduces error without

having to twist numbers. Representative sample is important as the foundation of house. Without it the study is on

shaky ground and it will fall apart. Bias sample are much more common than we think. A large sample that is

selected appropriately from population should represent the whole ell enough. If it isn’t, we end up with an

intelligent guess and have nothing to recommend but a spurious air of scientific precision as stuff says.

My question is how can a citizen be open with this kind of topic? How can we make people as an efficient

citizen? Do other people need statistical thinking to be an efficient citizen? In statistics, how can we avoid those

manipulated data that makes things worse?