While reading How to Read Numbers, I received two notifications on my phone about 15 seconds apart. The first one read, \u201cThousands Killed in Turkey-Syria Earthquake\u201d [1]. The second one read, \u201c40% of American children have a parent who works outside the traditional daytime schedule.\u201d [2].<\/p>\n
Normally, I would have responded to the second notice by thinking, \u201cOh, okay, thank you for the good information.\u201d But while reading Chivers\u2019 book, I have become a little more skeptical about statistics. Therefore, this time, I responded, \u201cHow do you know it\u2019s 40% and not 37% or 44%? What Americans did you talk with and how many? What is the traditional daytime schedule? What are the ages of these kids? Is it a problem for the children if their parents work outside the traditional daytime schedule? What\u2019s the denominator?\u201d I would not have asked any of these questions before I read Chivers\u2019 enlightening book. <\/p>\n
Now I was beginning to understand the statement, \u201cThe media, though, is built around stories.\u201d [3]. The media knows big numbers catches the attention of the readers. Numbers (statistics) help to enhance a story or make a story more believable. At least that\u2019s what the media wants you to believe. I need to be more skeptical because I am a very trusting person. And some how Chivers has convinced me to become more skeptical. He did this by exposing me to many ways numbers deceive me. For example, two ways are:<\/p>\n
1.\tBiased Samples: When the media\u2019s sample isn\u2019t representative of the population, they\u2019ve taken it from. It refers to a situation in which the research sample favors a certain group of people. A biased sample threatens the validity of a study because it doesn’t provide an accurate representation of the population.
\n2.\tAbsolute versus Relative Risk: For example, let\u2019s take getting a disease. Relative risks are often reported in newspaper headlines, but without the context of absolute (or baseline) risk, this information is meaningless. Absolute risk numbers are needed to understand the implications of relative risks and how specific factors, or behaviors affect your likelihood of developing a disease or health condition.<\/p>\n
Until I read Chivers\u2019 book I was not aware of biased samples, absolute versus relative risk, or the other reasons mentioned in the book, not to completely trust the media. I can honestly say with joy, when it comes to the media, I HAVE TRUST ISSUES…and it actually feels good. Before I read How to Read Numbers, I did not have trust issues with the media. Now I can see that was actually a flaw in my character. Who would tend to trust every statistic he or she reads? Now I need to take some time to search within my soul to see why I was so trusting of just about every statistic I read. Ouch!<\/p>\n
After reading through the book and being exposed to ways I have been deceived, I am now convinced of two things:<\/p>\n
1.\tBe careful of new studies that do not appreciate the studies that go before it. I need to think critically about new studies by asking, Is this what the whole literature is saying or is the author just giving his opinion? Since I read in the area of trauma, the brain, epigenetics, and addictions, it\u2019s important when a new study comes out to stay up to date. But now I\u2019m wondering if sometimes, up to date actually means out of date or just wrong. For example, last week, I came across an article in the magazine, ScienceNews. The article is from July 2022 and the headline reads, The idea that many people grow following trauma may be a myth. [4]. I have not read the article yet but I\u2019m already questioning it by asking, How many is \u201cmany people\u201d What is your definition of \u201cgrow\u201d How do you measure \u201cgrowth\u201d or \u201cnon-growth\u201d How do you define a myth? What does the literature say for the past 25 years about how people grow from trauma? Why would it be considered a myth in 2022? Just a few questions. <\/p>\n
2.\tAlways put statistics in some point of context because the point is to help people make decisions and navigate the world. Context is king. I need to think about what is going into that number. What does that number represent? Think about what they are not telling me. Don\u2019t panic. Think very hard before I speak about it. Is it consistent with other bits of evidence. Do I trust the organization that produces the statistics. Is there evidence the media intentionally left out the context? Just a few questions.<\/p>\n
Well, I\u2019m being very consistent. For the third straight week I was not looking forward to reading the book, just because of the title. But for the third straight week, I am very glad I read the book. Nearly every day I help traumatized patients face their deep-rooted trust issues. But this is one guy who is happy to have trust issues.<\/p>\n
1.\tTara Subramaniam and Rhea Mogul, \u201cThousands Killed in Turkey-Syria Earthquake.\u201d
\nCNN News, February 6, 2023, sec, U.S. https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/webview\/middleeast\/live-news\/turkey-earthquake-latest-020623\/index.html<\/p>\n
2.\tBetty Henderson, \u201c40% of American children have a parent who works outside the traditional daytime schedule.\u201d CNN News, February 6, 2023, sec, U.S. https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/videos\/us\/2023\/01\/23\/detroit-24-hour-daycare-lifeline-contd-orig-jk-lr.cnn<\/p>\n
3.\t Tom Chivers and David Chivers, How to Read Numbers: A Guide to Statistics in the News (and Knowing When to Trust Them) (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2021). P. 17.<\/p>\n
4.\tSujata Gupta, \u201cThe idea that many people grow following trauma may be a myth.\u201d ScienceNews, July 6, 2022. https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/trauma-ptsd-growth-myth-cultural-narrative-mental-health?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email_share<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While reading How to Read Numbers, I received two notifications on my phone about 15 seconds apart. The first one read, \u201cThousands Killed in Turkey-Syria Earthquake\u201d [1]. The second one read, \u201c40% of American children have a parent who works outside the traditional daytime schedule.\u201d [2]. Normally, I would have responded to the second notice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"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":[2310],"tags":[2489,2601,2076],"class_list":["post-30937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-dlgp02","tag-dlgp02-chivers","tag-chivers","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30937","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\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30937"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30938,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30937\/revisions\/30938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}