Statistical Prevarication: Telling Half-Truths using Statistics

What is it about?

All too often statistics are characterized as lies. But statistics are more likely to be half truths than lies. This paper studies statistical prevarication – the art of straddling both sides of an issue or idea – involving a statistic. This paper studies statistical prevarications in everyday use and in statistics education. If statistics educators are to avoid a charge of statistical negligence, they should focus more on identifying and eliminating sources of statistical prevarication in their teaching and textbooks. And statistical educators should do more to help students become statistically literate in detecting statistical prevarication.

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