How to Lie with Statistics

There's a reason this book has been in print for 70 years--it's THAT GOOD. The statistics used may be a bit dated, but are no less effective for that. Every example is carefully chosen to show how numbers can be used to obscure, mislead, and otherwise lie. Best of all, there is a discussion of how to recognize misleading statistics versus honest ones. This book was in my high school math teacher's classroom, and has been in mine as well. Anybody can understand it; anybody can "talk back" to statistics. Even if you're not a big fan of math or numbers, this is an excellent book.

This book is 70yrs old and is as relevant as ever and thoroughly enjoyable to boot, far exceeding my expectations. Not only does the reader gain the benefit of learning statistical fallacies he may already be aware of, but sees that they still apply 70yrs later. This book has aged like a fine whisky and serves as confirmation bias to my long held belief that the every day person is easily tripped up by simple percentages. Highly recommend for fellow stats nerds

How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff is not a typical statistics book. The purpose of this book is to teach readers how to interpret statistics. Huff provides countless examples of how statistics can be misused to convey data. The examples are taken mainly from newspaper articles and magazines. The bottom line is that researchers and authors are often biased and present data to support their views. No background in statistics is necessary to understand the examples and explanations. An understanding of high school level algebra is sufficient to comprehend the concepts presented in this book. Huff addresses topics such as averages, graphs, sampling techniques, deviation and correlation. This book would be good supplementary material for a consumer education or introductory statistics course. Huff's examples are ideal for classroom discussion. How to Lie with Statistics provides a practical, interesting and entertaining view of statistics. Although the book was originally published in 1954, the examples are still relevant today. In fact, it is more important than ever before to be an educated consumer.

This little book is a great piece to get one in the right mindset for consuming media, political propaganda, science, and more! While it is a lighthearted read, lacking in substantial statistical analysis, it does provide a basic breakdown of how statistics can be used to manipulate, fool, and lie (with oneself as a thinker, and with ones consumers). Even if a given thinker is not using any of the fallacies that this book discusses, it is worthwhile for a reader to maintain the spirit -the mindset- of this book, and always remain critical when reading data, science and statistics. You will probably be best served in reading this book if you already know a little bit about statistics (ie: the difference between mean, median and mode, and when one might use them), but some complementary google searching while reading can fill in the blanks for those less statistically inclined. Admittedly, it is a little bit dated, with most sources coming from a long time ago, and most references falling flat on their faces. This dated-ness doesn't take away from the content though, and should not dissuade you from getting a copy.

Despite having been written over half a century ago, "How to Lie with Statistics" is a timeless look at how statistics have been used to mislead or draw unsubstantiated conclusions. Ignoring the slightly dated examples- many references to the events of the 50's and monetary examples that are humorously off as a result of inflation, "How to Lie with Statistics" still has plenty to offer to readers in our fast-pace, data-driven world. Author Darrell Huff managed to create a wonderfully light and humorous read while still managing to convey a tremendous amount of information. This relatively short book is practically a quick introduction and handbook for many of the most common means of manipulating statistics. It is down-right amazing how many questionable practices you are able to spot after learning the content in this book. From tooth paste advertisements to election polls, the truly essential skills taught by this book help teach you how to dissect claims, and understand what is behind the marketing twists and biases. One of the most wonderful aspects of this work, is the ability to convey a tremendous amount of information in a way that any laymen would be able to pick up and understand. The topics covered include: how sampling introduces bias, the various ways of reporting "averages" (mean, median, mode), how advertisers pick and choose among statistics, unreported probable error, manipulation of graphs, irrelevant data, and (of course) correlation vs. causation. One might go so far as to say that this handbook guide is an advertiser's worst nightmare, pointing out the many ways that numbers are used to convince us of incorrect conclusions. While I certainly wasn't new to statistics, this book brought forth a breadth of information, presented in a fun, light-hearted way, and broken up with amusing illustrations. But, don't let its length or appearances fool you, the things you can learn are extraordinarily useful. I would highly recommend this book to a wide audience, anyone with a passing interest in how numbers are being used to deceive.

Quite an old book, however still very relevant

Título interessante pela abordagem com exemplos claros sobre o que está sendo explicado. Pondera inúmeros momentos que precisamos estar atentos, pois sempre haverá bias/vieses e isso não pode nos cegar a avaliação.

it was written in the 1940ish . but its still relevant

It's a complete must-have in today's world. We live surrounded by news and articles full of statistics and graphs that seem convincing, but in reality, many can be misleading, not because of wrong data, but because of how it is presented. This book provides indispensable knowledge for better understanding the statistics used in media and knowing how to detect lies or misdirections.

Je recommande ce livre, très facile à lire (d'un côté grâce à la taille de l'écriture pas trop petite et à une mise en page aérée, d'un autre côté grâce au style de l'écrivain, qui rend accessible au public un contenu pas toujours facile à comprendre). Concernant la commande sur Amazon, la livraison a été super rapide malgré les conditions actuelles.