Some General Thoughts about Statistics

Another important concept to understand when studying statistics is that this is an area of mathematics that is entirely practical. That is, it is an area of applied mathematics rather than an area of theoretical, or pure, mathematics. Because of this, many mathematicians are reluctant to even consider statistics to be a legitimate area of mathematical study. In some colleges, courses in statistics are handled completely outside the department of mathematics. Statistics may be a course taught in a business department, a sociology department, a psychology department, or even a science department. Because of its wide application to real-world problems, statistics has become a vital part of our scientific, technological, commercial, and political worlds. One cannot truly understand science without an understanding of statistics. The same can be said about social science. Certainly political events are saturated with statistics, as one can see from even a cursory examination of any daily newspaper. Advertisers constantly make clever and often deceptive use of statistics.

Through manipulation and distortion of statistics, many people use the power of mathematics to mislead and control those who have an unsophisticated understanding of statistics. Many people who lack a deep understanding of statistics become disillusioned when it seems as if everyone uses numbers to prove opposing sides of controversial issues. Because of these issues, much of our examination of statistics focuses on how people use and misuse statistical information. We present some tricks and techniques for distortion, not because we believe our readers will want to use them, but because we believe that teachers must equip children to discern and unmask these techniques on a daily basis if they are to become intelligent, participatory citizens in a democratic society.