Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data

Statistics can be a source of much confusion. I recent newspaper article stated "only [small number]% of coaches are women, yet [large number] girls play this sport." The goal was to saw there is a great shortage of female coaches. But using a percentage in one place and number in another is misleading. "Just 5% of coaches are female, while 5,000,000 girls play this sport" sounds really bad. But if there are also 500,000,000 boys that play the sport, it actually shows female coaches are over-represented. Numbers and statistics are a great way to tell these "lies".

The author initially shied away from "math heavy" classes. Abstract ideas did not appeal to him. However, once he was able to connect concrete interests it became much more appealing. In this book he tries to impart that feeling with a lighthearted look at the practical nature of statistics.

Statistics can be used to help infer important conclusions. They can also be used to come up with many false explanations. Knowing the difference can be challenging. The sampling method, the data, the methodology and the questions asked can all play a role in the quality. It is very easy to come up with "accurate" statistics that are totally wrong. We have a duty to find these and understand them. This book is a helpful, easy to understand primer.