Such examples that appear in the purview of the general public have potential for motivating critical discourse around statistics content and interpretation that can lead to further curiosity of more advanced statistical thinking and reasoning. Ioannidis JP. To get this trip started, let's look at a fallacious statistics definition. With the rise of advanced technology and globalized operations, statistical analyses grant businesses insight into solving the extreme uncertainties of the market. More than half of all suicides in 2021 - 26,328 out of 48,183, or 55% - also involved a gun, the highest percentage since 2001. For example, starting the axes in a predefined value so that it will affect the way the graph is perceived to achieve a certain conclusion. That marked the highest percentage since at least 1968, the earliest year for which the CDC has online records. As individuals, we can help stop the spread of misinformation by taking the following steps: Everyone has the power to stop misinformation from spreading. To make sure the reliability is high, there are various techniques to perform the first of them being the control tests, which should have similar results when reproducing an experiment in similar conditions. An official website of the United States government. Do numbers lie? What information is missing from this data? In this article, we showcase examples of how data related to the COVID-19 pandemic has been (mis)represented in the media and by governmental agencies and discuss plausible reasons why it has been (mis)represented. In the digital age, these capabilities are only further enhanced and harnessed through the implementation of advanced technology and business intelligence software. Dietary supplement businesses frequently exaggerate the health benefits of their products. By Bernardita Calzon in Data Analysis, Jan 6th 2023, 3) Misleading Statistics Examples In Real Life. If you follow all the steps mentioned above, you should be able to make a clear analysis and correct use of data. Omitting baselines, or the axis of a graph, is one of the most common ways data is manipulated in graphs. One of the most misleading, but rather common, tricks is to use relative risks when talking about the benefits of a treatment, for example to say that "Women taking tamoxifen had about 49% fewer diagnoses of breast cancer", while potential harms are given in absolute risks: "The annual rate of uterine cancer in the tamoxifen arm was 30 per 10,000 American network Fox News has been under scrutiny several times throughout the years for showing misleading statistics graphs that seem to purposely portray a conclusion that is not accurate. The problem with correlations is this: if you measure enough variables, eventually it will appear that some of them correlate. So, let's explore some interesting choices of using data visualization tools and discuss why they are misleading. As an entrepreneur and former consultant, Mark Suster advises in an article, you should wonder who did the primary research of said analysis. Big data has the ability to provide digital age businesses with a roadmap for efficiency and transparency, and eventually, profitability. 5 sources of misleading statistics (& how they can jeopardize your Is the language being used objective and formal? About eight-in-ten U.S. murders in 2021 - 20,958 out of 26,031, or 81% - involved a firearm. Just like other industries or areas that we will cover on this list of examples, the healthcare industry is not free of the misuse of statistics. But while that may be the case, people are duped by data visualizations every day. Convene federal, state, local, territorial, tribal, private, nonprofit, and research partners to explore the impact of health misinformation and establish best practices for prevention. Secure .gov websites use HTTPSA lock ( should be built in a certain area based on population growth patterns. On the other side, of 400 patients that arrived in poor condition at Hospital B, 210 survived at a survival rate of 52.5%. Misleading Coronavirus graphs. The prevalence of health misinformation was the highest on Twitter and on issues related to smoking products and drugs. Instead, we see the dates between April and May interspersed with the aim of making viewers of this graph believe that the cases are gradually decreasing. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic misinformation has caused people to decline COVID-19 vaccines, reject public health measures such as masking and physical distancing, and use unproven treatments. You can see a graph that shows the UK National debt from 1995 to 2016. Engage with your friends and family on the problem of health misinformation. A typical example of amplification often happens with newspapers and journalists, who take one piece of data and need to turn it into headlines thus often out of its original context. Using the wrong graph 7. For the presidential run of 2012, the news network showed the graph below where we see a pie chart displaying a total of 193% which is clearly wrong and misleading as the total should be 100%. We all need access to trusted sources of information to stay safe and healthy. 10 Bogus -- And Widely Believed -- Statistics - Seeker Health Misinformation Current Priorities of the U.S. Surgeon General . The chart points appear to indicate that 327,000 abortions are greater in inherent value than 935,573 cancer screenings. Advanced technology solutions like online reporting software can enhance statistical data models, and provide digital age businesses with a step up on their competition. Television is not the only media platform that can provide examples of bad statistics in the news. Prioritize early detection of misinformation super-spreaders and repeat offenders. Health Misinformation Current Priorities of the U.S. Health (2 days ago) Office of the U.S. Here are some more examples of missed opportunities to do so. The graph shows the growth of COVID-19 cases from March 5 to March 31. However, misinformation on major public health issues, such as vaccines and diseases, was also high. xkdc's comic illustrates this very well, to show how the "fastest-growing" claim is a totally relative marketing speech: Likewise, the needed sample size is influenced by the kind of question you ask, the statistical significance you need (clinical study vs business study), and the statistical technique. Looking for U.S. government information and services? You can be drawn in by the good from what appears to be a reputable source and then can. Furthermore, those without the statistical literacy to recognize it, many times, are further convinced that statistics is not a reliable or trustworthy source of evidence. The problem was, the graph, which is depicted below, was built with a y-axis on a logarithmic scale instead of a linear one, making it look like the rate of change is smaller than it actually is. Misleading statistics in politics are quite common. At the first glance, there may appear to not be anything inherently misleading about this plot (see Figure 1). This is paired with the fact that counties are not always depicted in the same order, but instead in descending order of cases. The Surgeon Generals Community Toolkit for Addressing Health Misinformation provides specific guidance and resources for health care providers, educators, librarians, faith leaders, and trusted community members to understand, identify, and stop the spread of health misinformation in their communities. And over the years, tobacco. Certain industries tend to have more issues with misleading claims. Move with urgency toward coordinated, at-scale investment to tackle misinformation. Statistics - Using the Truth to Mislead - The Health Care Blog The issue comes with the second graph that is displayed in the article, in which we see a comparison of full-price sales between The Times and one of its biggest competitors, the Daily Telegraph. Editors, clients, and people want something new, not something they know; thats why we often end up with an amplification phenomenon that gets echoed and more than it should. As we mentioned earlier, the sample size is of utmost importance when it comes to deciding the worth of a study or its results. 19 of the persons respond yes to the survey. It can be difficult to know which sources of information you can trust. Assess the impact of health misinformation. However, some survival rate statistics can be misleading because they don't take into account differences in patient characteristics, such as age, sex, and stage of disease. The next of our most common examples for misuse of statistics and misleading data is, perhaps, the most serious. 1) Misleading Data Visualization Examples 2) How to Avoid Misleading Visuals 3) The Impact Of Bad Data Visualizations Nobody likes feeling manipulated in any way, shape, or form. An official website of the Learn how to identify and avoid sharing health misinformation. The below chart expresses the 30-year change in global mean temperatures. 2 Steven Strogatzs Twitter comment to show a recreation of a plot showing the number of daily cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 in the population of Kansas. Register a free Taylor & Francis Online account today to boost your research and gain these benefits: Data (Mis)representation and COVID-19: Leveraging Misleading Data Visualizations For Developing Statistical Literacy Across Grades 616, a School of Teacher Preparation, Administration & Leadership, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, b Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Houston, Houston, TX, GAISE College Report ASA Revision Committee. To illustrate, a survey asks 20 people a yes-or-no question. With the abundance of health information available today, it can be hard to tell what is true or not. . However, at the time this graph was published, many media publications interpreted the graph as if the deaths dropped, showing how damaging the misuse of graphs and numbers can be. examples of misleading statistics in healthcare (labels are clear, axes begin at 0, right chart type, etc) Is the research represented honestly and in an impartial manner? Bad Infographics: The Worst Infographics of 2020 - Venngage The results provide deceiving information that creates false narratives around a topic. To avoid this issue, you should always pick a random sample of people whose background may or may not be related to the topic of the survey. Official websites use .govA .gov website belongs to an official government Provide training and resources for grantees working in communities disproportionately affected by misinformation (e.g., areas with lower vaccine confidence). Consider the following steps to determine if information is accurate: For more information on common types of health misinformation sources, check out our Health Misinformation Community Toolkit. Bias is most likely to take the form of data omissions or adjustments to prove a specific point. This example of a misleading use of statistics is perhaps one of the more clear cases of intent to mislead, despite attempts of the administration to make it appear accidentalsee May 19 story about the response in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Mariano and Trubey 2020 ). But, what about causation? The size of India's middle class is 300 million people. We can all benefit from taking steps to improve the quality of health information we consume. The power of words is huge, therefore, carefully looking at the way a study is written is another great practice to assess its quality. As an answer to the issue, Candice Broce, the communications director for Giorgias Governor. Each year, millions of research hypotheses are tested. As businesses are often forced to follow a difficult-to-interpret product roadmap, statistical methods can help with the planning that is necessary to navigate a landscape filled with potholes, pitfalls . False or misleading information is causing people to make decisions that could have dangerous consequences for their health. Evaluate the effectiveness of internal policies and practices in addressing misinformation and be transparent with findings. Verify the accuracy of information by checking with trustworthy and credible sources. To illustrate this point further, lets assume that a study has found a correlation between an increase in car accidents in the state of New York in the month of June (A), and an increase in bear attacks in the state of New York in the month of June (B). Not using annotations 12. Lets explain this better with an example. However, upon closer inspection, you might notice that there are two vertical axes. The growing number of places people go to for information has made it easier for misinformation to spread at a never-before-seen speed and scale. Luxembourg and Andorra are in the top 10 largely because of their exceptionally small populations (roughly 600,000 and 77,000, respectively). A 2009 investigative survey by Dr. Daniele Fanelli from The University of Edinburgh found that 33.7% of scientists surveyed admitted to questionable research practices, including modifying results to improve outcomes, subjective data interpretation, withholding analytical details, and dropping observations because of gut feelings. Some misleading online posts are difficult to spot because they contain both good and bad medical advice. Yet, closer examination will reveal that the chart has no defined y-axis. Address health misinformation in your community. These false correlations often leave the general public very confused and searching for answers regarding the significance of causation and correlation. Here are five techniques for fudging the numbers with misleading statistics examples: Technique #1: Citing Misleading "Averages" The first technique is using the word "average" without specifying what kind of average a figure represents. The above graph/chart was presented as a point of emphasis. Six brands that have made false health claims in advertising - Econsultancy (Citation2012) titled Case Studies for Quantitative Reasoning: A Casebook of Media Articles. Over the next few paragraphs, we provide some possible ways of using the two previous cases to support learning of comparing samples and association, as well as how data visualizations can (mis)lead both unintentionally and intentionally if the consumer is not critically examining them. Now, you might argue that The Times is telling the truth, as they are actually leading over their competitors. As mentioned, this is not the only time Fox News has been criticized because of these situations. The case started when the giant pharmaceutical company, Purdue Pharma, launched its new product OxyContin, which they advertised as a safe, non-addictive opioid that was highly effective for pain relief. It was this unethical and misleading graph, which was also FDA approved, that helped in initiating one of the biggest health crises in the US, opioid addiction. It becomes hard to believe any analysis! This can lead to poor decision-making due to misinformation. Evaluate the effectiveness of strategies and policies to prevent and address health misinformation. Doing a quick research, you find that 900 out of 1000 patients that went into surgery at Hospital A survived, while 800 out of 1000 survived at Hospital B. On August 6, Steven Strogratz posted the following plot on Twitter (see Figure 2), which was a recreation of the plot produced by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment with the right side vertical scale removed and both categories of data appropriately placed on the same scale. However, in the case of Figure 3, because the purpose is to draw attention to the misleading horizontal axis, it can be a useful plot for secondary students who have not yet been exposed to side-by-side histograms. Much like abortion, global warming is another politically charged topic that is likely to arouse emotions. Strengthen and scale the use of evidence-based educational programs that build resilience to misinformation. Annual Data 3. Incentivize coordination across grantees to maximize reach, avoid duplication, and bring together a diversity of expertise. People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read. Source #1: A small sample size. The name and date of birth used in this example are imaginative, used for illustrative purposes, and do not represent an actual patient. Moreover, this is a common topic appearing in tertiary introductory statistics courses, as well as courses on quantitative reasoning. Misleading Statistics Examples In Healthcare After a discussion, and a conclusion that attempts to make a generalized claim beyond the data (i.e., an inference; also a seventh-grade standard), the adjusted plot (Figure 2) could be shared with questions such as: Does the conclusion still hold when the plot is adjusted to accurately depict the two situations? Examples of Misleading Statistics in Healthcare 1. Truncating axes means doing the opposite. Misinformation is information that is false, inaccurate, or misleading according to the best available evidence at the time. As businesses are often forced to follow a difficult-to-interpret market roadmap, statistical methods can help with the planning that is necessary to navigate a landscape filled with potholes, pitfalls, and hostile competition. Global Warming out of Control! While numbers dont always have to be fabricated or misleading, it is clear that even societys most trusted numerical gatekeepers are not immune to the carelessness and bias that can arise with statistical interpretation processes. In this case, there is no way to know if the data were purposefully (mis)represented to support a particular message, or if it were (mis)represented by accident. For instance, the nature of the group of people surveyed: asking a class of college students about the legal drinking age, or a group of retired people about the elderly care system. 19 Most Misleading Statistics (That Are Technically Correct) By: Cracked Plasticians April 20, 2016 Advertisement When the math adds up, the numbers never lie. This is not to say that there is no proper use of data mining, as it can in fact lead to surprise outliers and interesting analyses. Now that weve put the misuse of statistics in context, lets look at various digital age examples of statistics that are misleading across five distinct, but related, spectrums: media and politics, news, advertising, science, and healthcare. Researchers should not allow their values, their bias, or their views to impact their research, analysis, or findings, therefore, looking at the way questions and findings are formulated is a good practice. Too good to be true: 39 products with exaggerated or misleading claims Are you being misled by statistics? - Clearer Thinking If you see this graph, you would obviously think the UKs national debt is higher than ever. In this case, it can create the wrong idea of a product being healthier than it actually is. We took a very obvious one to show you below. It is worth mentioning that 1998 was one of the hottest years on record due to an abnormally strong El Nio wind current. Misuse of statistics is present everywhere and news outlets are no exception. A trailer video introducing the Community Toolkit that can be used for educational and training purposes. Another way of creating misleading statistics, also linked with the choice of sample discussed above, is the size of said sample. No, it isn't. The size of India's middle class was 50 . Listen with empathy, ask questions, provide alternative explanations, and dont expect success from one conversation. In the sections that follow we will show two cases of widely disseminated data visualizations that (mis)represent the situation they are describing. Omitting the baseline. The report, "Births: Preliminary Data for 2009" found that the rate for the youngest teenagers, 10-14 years, fell from 0.6 to 0.5 per 1,000, also the lowest level ever reported. In 2006, The Times, a popular UK newspaper, printed a story about how they were the leading paper both online and in print in the UK. Citation2020; GAISE College Report ASA Revision Committee Citation2016), in particular as it relates to being a critical consumer of statistics. This is a useful way to show how the use of two vertical axes can aid in visualizing association between two phenomena, particularly because the two vertical axes are different unitsallowing for a more accurate comparison.