{"id":29525,"date":"2022-11-13T14:29:59","date_gmt":"2022-11-13T22:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=29525"},"modified":"2022-11-13T14:29:59","modified_gmt":"2022-11-13T22:29:59","slug":"beyond-the-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/beyond-the-numbers\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the Numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"

We live and lead in an information-driven society. Data, details and diagnostics are at our fingertips 24 hours a day. There are many benefits to living in the information age, but there are also many problems. A primary issue being that all information is not created equal. Cousins and authors, Tom and David Chivers, explore this concept of data reliability in their 2021 book <\/span>How to Read Numbers.<\/span><\/i> Written for your average information consumer, this book defines basic statistical terms and winsomely provides examples of how numbers reported in the press can often mislead readers. This book is not a hand slap on the media as much as it is a wake-up call for consumers to understand the limits of which data should inform our perspectives and decisions. [1]\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Chivers and Chivers adequately prove that a healthy level of skepticism is warranted when it comes to relying on data presented in the media. They do this through a review of twenty principles that relate to statistical reliability. The remainder of this essay discusses several of these principles through the lens of a research challenge that my family has recently undertaken – identifying potential colleges for my daughter, Audrey (a high school senior). What began as an exciting step toward Audrey\u2019s future, quickly became muddled by all kinds of numbers that impacted her momentous decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Look at Numbers Involved in Selecting and Applying to a University and How They Impact a Student\u2019s Decision<\/b><\/p>\n

Where do you want to go to college? <\/span><\/i>That\u2019s the first question anyone asks when I introduce Audrey as a high school senior. Over the past year, her top answer has not waivered – University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. One of the \u201cpublic Ivies\u201d of the U.S., UNC found its way into Audrey\u2019s dreams. The problem? UNC is highly competitive for out-of-state students, accepting only 8.2% of non-state applicants. And we live in Missouri.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, I know that Audrey is a gifted, high-achieving student. Unfortunately, that 8.2% statistic has her convinced that her dream is in peril. Over the past 6 months, I\u2019ve had to reassure her many times that numbers can be misleading and that she truly does have a chance of becoming a Tar Heel on decision day 2023. I wish I had read How Read Numbers previously, so I could have sounded much more scholarly when explaining the real scoop behind these numbers that are keeping her up at night as she contemplates her future.<\/span><\/p>\n

ACT Scores<\/b><\/p>\n

Every school posts the average ACT\/SAT scores of their students. These numbers put fear in the heart of high school students everywhere when they sit down to take the dreaded college entrance exams. As Chivers and Chivers explain, averages can be misinterpreted without additional data such as the median and the mode. [2]<\/a> Additionally, test scores are just one of many factors that college admissions consider.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

GPA<\/b><\/p>\n

A student\u2019s grade point average is another important number for college applications, however one quickly realizes that all GPAs are not calculated with the same components. For example, AP classes are <\/span>weighted, <\/span><\/i>so an A is actually worth 5 point instead of 4. Students who take many AP classes can earn a GPA well over a 4.0, skewing the scale.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Acceptance Rates<\/b><\/p>\n

The lower the acceptance rate, the lower the chance a student has of being accepted. But not all schools have the same amount of students applying. So a lesser-known school can have a higher acceptance rate not because it\u2019s not a good school, but simply because fewer students apply. I tried (in vain) to convince Audrey that a school with a higher acceptance rate could still be an excellent option.<\/span><\/p>\n

National Rankings<\/b><\/p>\n

And finally, we have the highly reported and capitalized on college rankings. It seems every major newspaper or magazine has their own rankings based on a myriad of criteria. Colleges latch onto these rankings for advertisements forevermore. After reading through dozens of college web sites, I can hardly think of one that didn\u2019t claim some sort of prestigious ranking from one source or another. Of course, we don\u2019t know how many colleges were considered for each ranking, how many people were in the sample size for questionnaires, how those questionnaires were worded or who made the ultimate decisions for the rankings. All of which are cause for pause!<\/span><\/p>\n

In the end, Audrey did apply to UNC and we will find out on January 31, 2023 whether she is accepted. It\u2019s been quite a year of deliberation and honestly, most of her decisions eventually were based on more qualitative factors rather than quantitative data. Lesson learned: Numbers are a good starting point for selecting a college, but college visits, campus vibe, connection of students and other more subjective qualities are just, if not more, important.<\/span><\/p>\n

[1] Chivers, Tom, and David Chivers. 2022. How to Read Numbers<\/i>. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[2] Ibid, 9<\/span><\/p>\n



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We live and lead in an information-driven society. Data, details and diagnostics are at our fingertips 24 hours a day. There are many benefits to living in the information age, but there are also many problems. A primary issue being that all information is not created equal. Cousins and authors, Tom and David Chivers, explore […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":154,"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":[2347,2076],"class_list":["post-29525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp01","tag-chivers","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29525","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\/154"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29525"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29529,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29525\/revisions\/29529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}