How to lie with Statistics (again)

Darrell Huff wrote a book called How to Lie with Statistics in 1954. He gave numerous examples of how statistics can be used – either deliberately or carelessly – to deceive an audience.

Despite his widely read critique, statistics continue to be misused, even by people who should know better. The picture above is taken from the Times Educational Supplement. It purports to show the difference between the numbers of men and women in various branches of the teaching profession. Because two-dimensional representations have been used, the sizes of the figures should be determined by making their areas proportional to the percentages. In this case, however, it is their heights that are proportional to the percentages. This gives a wholly misleading impression, most notably in the last pair of figures where an almost invisibly small man (representing 3%) stands next to a hugely disproportionate woman (representing 97%). The area of the man is one-thousandth the area of the woman, making it look as if men are outnumbered by women by a thousand to one, instead of around 32 to 1.

Clicking on the graph brings up a larger, clearer version. And for another example, also from the Times Educational Supplement, see my earlier blog posting.

Update on Monday, September 13, 2010 at 3:32PM by Matthew Handy

The Times Educational Supplement published my letter on this subject.