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Although many of the examples used in the book are charmingly dated, the cautions are timeless. Statistics are rife with opportunities for misuse, from "gee-whiz graphs" that add nonexistent drama to trends, to "results" detached from their method and meaning, to statistics' ultimate bugaboo--faulty cause-and-effect reasoning. Huff's tone is tolerant and amused, but no-nonsense. Like a lecturing father, he expects you to learn something useful from the book, and start applying it every day. Never be a sucker again, he cries!
Even if you can't find a source of demonstrable bias, allow yourself some degree of skepticism about the results as long as there is a possibility of bias somewhere. There always is.
Read How to Lie with Statistics. Whether you encounter statistics at work, at school, or in advertising, you'll remember its simple lessons. Don't be terrorized by numbers, Huff implores. "The fact is that, despite its mathematical base, statistics is as much an art as it is a science." --Therese Littleton
Review
This book needed to be written, and makes its points in an entertaining, highly readable manner. -- Management Review
"THE AVERAGE Yaleman, Class of '24," Time magazine noted once, commenting on something in the New York Sun, "makes $25,111 a year." Read the first page
Concordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Defend yourself from the number-tossers,
By Dan (Boulder CO) - See all my reviews
This review is from: How To Lie With Statistics (Paperback)
How to Lie with Statistics, by Darrel Huff, should be required reading for everyone. The cachet of numbers are used all the time in modern society. Usually to end arguments--after all, who can argue with "facts"? Huff shows how the same set of numbers can be tweaked to show three different outcomes, depending on where you start and what you use. The fundamental lesson I learned from this book is that mathematical calculation involves a whole set of conditions, and any number derived from such a calculation is meaningless without understanding those conditions.He also mentions that colleagues have told him that the flurry of meaningless statistics is due to incompetence--he dispatches this argument with a simple query: "Why, then, do the numbers almost always favor the person quoting them?" Huff also provides five questions (not unlike the five d's of dodgeball) for readers to ask, when confronted with a statistic: 1. Who says so? 2. How does he know? 3. What's missing? 4. Did somebody change the subject? 5. Does it make sense? All this is wrapped up in a book with simple examples (no math beyond arithmetic, really) and quaint 1950s prose. In addition humor runs from the beginning (the dedication is "To my wife with good reason") to the end (on page 135, Huff says "Almost anybody can claim to be first in something if he is not too particular what it is"). This book is well worth a couple hours of your time.
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Entertaining Primer on the Validity of Statistics,
By John Nolley II (Fairfax, VA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: How To Lie With Statistics (Paperback)
Although "How to Lie with Statistics" is a bit dated (having been written in the 1950's), the principles it puts forth are still valid today--if not moreso than ever--and the material is delivered in clear, concise, and even entertaining anecdotes and illustrations.How often do you hear statistics bandied about in the media or used to try to prove some special-interest point? "Of course" the people quoting the figures must be right with numbers on their sides... until you look at just how those numbers were arrived at. This book isn't truly a guide on how to lie with statistics, but it is an excellent text that informs the reader both how others will lie to them using statistics and on how to interpret the validity of purported statistical data.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Clear, Concise, and Fun,
By Brian (Fort Collins, CO) - See all my reviews
This review is from: How To Lie With Statistics (Paperback)
How to Lie with Statistics is a fun and informative look at the was in which statisticians try to decieve the public with misleading statistics. Every chapter contains plenty of real-world examles that provide excellent insight into the concepts. The book is a quick read (only 142 pages) and it holds the reader's attention; both are necessities for an educational work. How to Lie with Statistics is perfect for the beginning statistics student or anyone who wants to learn how they can be decieved through the manipulation of numbers. The reading level and math make this more appropriate for high school or college students than for younger students. Using three randomly selected paragraphs, the mean Flesch-Kincaid grade level was 10.4; thus this book is excellent for sophomores or advanced freshman. Although the writing is a little dated (1954), it is still clear and highly relevant. Overall, this is a highly recommended and worthwhile read.
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