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The misuse of Statistics can trick the observer who does not understand them into believing something other than what the data shows or what is really 'true'. That is, a misuse of statistics occurs when an argument uses statistics to assert a falsehood. In some cases, the misuse may be accidental.
The origin of the phrase "Lies, damned lies, and statistics" is unclear, but Mark Twain attributed it to Benjamin Disraeli [1] "Lies, damned lies, and statistics" is a phrase describing the persuasive power of statistics to bolster weak arguments, "one of the best, and best-known" critiques of applied statistics. [2]
The McNamara fallacy is often considered in the context of the Vietnam War, in which enemy body counts were taken to be a precise and objective measure of success. War was reduced to a mathematical model: By increasing estimated enemy deaths and minimizing one's own, victory was assured.
Goodhart's law is an adage often stated as, "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure". [1] It is named after British economist Charles Goodhart, who is credited with expressing the core idea of the adage in a 1975 article on monetary policy in the United Kingdom: [2]
Metascience – Scientific study of science; Misuse of statistics – Use of statistical arguments to assert falsehoods; Overfitting – Flaw in mathematical modelling; Pareidolia – Perception of meaningful patterns or images in random or vague stimuli; Post hoc analysis – Statistical analyses that were not specified before the data were seen
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The book is a brief, breezy illustrated volume outlining the misuse of statistics and errors in the interpretation of statistics, and how errors create incorrect conclusions. In the 1960s and 1970s, it became a standard textbook introduction to the subject of statistics for many college students.
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