{"id":27853,"date":"2021-10-28T23:01:57","date_gmt":"2021-10-29T06:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=27853"},"modified":"2021-10-28T23:01:57","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T06:01:57","slug":"22-ways-to-misunderstand-a-number","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/22-ways-to-misunderstand-a-number\/","title":{"rendered":"22 Ways to Misunderstand a Number"},"content":{"rendered":"

In \u201cHow to Read Numbers,\u201d by Tom Chivers and David Chivers, the reader is presented with twenty-two common mistakes both professionals and lay persons make when using and\/or reading statistics of one kind or another. The authors\u2019 stated goal is similar to that of Kahneman\u2014to improve the reader\u2019s quality of thinking and decision making. Chivers and Chivers, however, have narrower focus than Kahneman. Their specific focal point is to help readers better \u201c\u2026understand how numbers are made, how they\u2019re used and how they can go wrong, because otherwise we\u2019ll make bad decisions, as individuals and as a society.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

Following a brief introduction, the authors give one chapter to each error to which a writer or reader is prone when working with or reading statistics. In their conclusion, they make clear that while this is a book about statistics (which is a subcategory under the classification of sociology), they also indicate their desire that this book be used as a style manual for how to carefully and responsibly write about and use statistics and numbers. They are also using this book to launch an on-line campaign on how to read numbers. These additional components convey the authors\u2019 sense of wider purpose and mission in writing this book. They are not content with just having written this book; they want to start a movement that leads to a wider practice of improving how numbers and statistics are understood and utilized in our societies\u2014for the betterment of our societies. This is a fascinating and worthy mission, given the landscapes of information distortion we all must navigate each day.<\/p>\n

As I inspectionally read this book, I was reminded of my master\u2019s level class on statistics and research design. I\u2019ve been grateful for that background ever since as I\u2019ve read various articles on a wide variety of topics and have seen how numbers and statistics are used and abused. It left me feeling grateful for Chivers and Chivers commitment to make this knowledge accessible to a wide range of writers and readers.<\/p>\n

They have reinvigorated my interest in this subject and its practical applications to my everyday conversations with family members, friends, and colleagues. Their approach has given me some helpful ways to talk about the challenges of statistics in more approachable language and unlocked some of the paralysis I have felt to engage this topic. Their book has also left me more attuned to my NPO project reading and refreshed my capacity to more carefully attend to the numbers and statistics that show up there\u2014especially as I read assessments on the effectiveness of various approaches to social cohesion and peace-building.<\/p>\n

The challenges of establishing causality (Chapter 8) and discerning variables that may confound the linking of two other issues (Chapter 7) frequently show up in my NPO project reading. I especially appreciated the authors\u2019 caution to investigate whether or not a third variable may be impacting two other factors that seem to be causally related. This caution reminded me of blind spots in our thinking and decision-making processes outlined by Kahneman. For example, some of my research reading that summarized several studies indicated a positive link between the value of hospitality and the degree of social cohesion exhibited in a diverse community. I find that to be a fascinating connection, but is it a causal connection? After reading Chivers and Chivers, I want to revisit that research to look more carefully at the research methodology underlying the studies and their conclusions. Chivers and Chivers\u2019 comments on this have left me curious to discover if there is a confounding factor also present that influences the relationship between the value of hospitality and the experience of social cohesion in a diverse community.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Chivers, Tom, and David Chivers. 2021. How to Read Numbers: A Guide to Statistics in the News (and Knowing When to Trust Them)<\/em>. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 3.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In \u201cHow to Read Numbers,\u201d by Tom Chivers and David Chivers, the reader is presented with twenty-two common mistakes both professionals and lay persons make when using and\/or reading statistics of one kind or another. The authors\u2019 stated goal is similar to that of Kahneman\u2014to improve the reader\u2019s quality of thinking and decision making. Chivers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2088,2075,2089],"class_list":["post-27853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-chivers-and-chivers","tag-statistics","tag-style-manual-for-statistics","cohort-lgp11"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27853"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27854,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27853\/revisions\/27854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}