This book is a good read for peoplewho would like to educate themselves about how companies, medical researchers,and really any business, use tricks or “statistics” to sell their products orget a good reputation for them. The author can really elaborate on his subjectshe touches on, including details that make the information easier to consume.Sometimes data can be selectively chosen to best suit the reputation thecompany or business would like to achieve. This knowledge can help youunderstand the news or media more intelligently by revealing how data can becompiled and interpreted.
Businesses can advertise theirproducts to be the best for every human but not every human can react tocertain medicines the same. Their sample sizes could also be small or evenbiased at times. It’s not always a bad idea to question certain things you hearor read. For example, everything on the internet was written by another humanbeing just like you who is also capable of making mistakes. I’m not saying thateverything on the internet is wrong, just that it doesn’t hurt to questionthings you are trying to educate yourself on.It is also possible that data couldbe discarded until the business achieves the desired results.
The experiment conductedcould be performed several times until results are perceived to be great orexcellent. The way the data is compiled could affect the way it is interpreted.There are 3 different ways to collect data for an average. Those being mean,median, and mode. These 3 ways can lead to very different results and even ifthey were close together, the business can still choose the one that appearsbest for them.
They could reduce their sample sizes to increase their chancesof reaching better results. In certain paragraphs or subjectsthe author talks about, he includes a little too many details that derails thereader from their train of thought causing them to reread the details over tosee how exactly it fits into the subject at hand. Although, in some cases theauthor does include not only his information or perspective, but he also givesyou the questions you should be asking yourself, so you wouldn’t be dependenton his information alone. This way you can start making your own decisions andyou can lead yourself down the path to interpreting the information and formingyour own opinion.
