How to Lie with Statistics

Submitted by Book Library on 26 June, 2010 - 14:38

Darrell Huff runs the gamut of every popularly used type of statistic, probes such things as the sample study, the tabulation method, the interview technique, or the way the results are derived from the figures, and points up the countless number of dodges which are used to fool rather than inform.

A sort of primer in ways to use statistics to deceive, How to Lie with Statistics introduces the reader to the niceties of samples (random or stratified random), averages (mean, median or modal), errors (probable, standard or unintentional), graphs, indexes and other tools of democratic persuasion.

Positive Review of Book

This book in simple language teaches basic critical analysis and thoughtful consideration of the kind of statistics and graphs that consumers of modern media are presented with every day. It would be fantastic required reading at the high school level, as it shows exactly where and how those statistics can be presented in such a manner as to make one's case stronger than it really is. It's also a fun and easy read.
No, statisticians and mathematicians probably wouldn't learn much. I'm a scientist with a Ph.D. though, and keep a copy in my office because I work in a business world where too many Power Points make use of exactly the kind of misleading presentation techniques described in the title of this book.

Negative Review of Book

It's been a month now and I still haven't received this book. Links to contact the seller weren't working a week ago so that's a little odd, but I'm guessing my order didn't get processed for some reason.

Author Biography

Darrell Huff (July 15, 1913 - June 27, 2001) was an American writer, and is best known as the author of How to Lie with Statistics (1954), the best-selling statistics book of the second half of the twentieth century.

Huff was born in Gowrie, Iowa, and educated at the University of Iowa, (BA 1938, MA 1939). Before turning to full time writing in 1946, Huff served as editor of Better Homes and Gardens and Liberty magazine. As a freelancer, Huff produced hundreds of "How to" feature articles and wrote at least sixteen books, most of which concerned household projects.One of his biggest projects was a prize winning home in Carmel, California where he lived until his death.

First and foremost, though, Huff is credited with introducing statistics to a generation of college and high school students on a level that was meaningful, available, and practical, while still managing to teach complex mathematical concepts. His most famous text, "How to Lie with Statistics" is still being translated into new languages. His books have been published in over 22 languages, and continue to be used in classrooms the world over.

Table of Contents

  1. The Sample with the Built-in Bias
  2. The Well-Chosen Average
  3. The Little Figures That Are Not There
  4. Much Ado about Practically Nothing
  5. The Gee-Whiz Graph
  6. The One-Dimensional Picture
  7. The Semiattached Figure
  8. Post Hoc Rides Again
  9. How to Statisticulate
  10. How to Talk Back to a Statistic

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