Unit 4 A CRITICAL THINKING: ASSESSING THE CREDIBILITY OF STATISTICS


Statistics, and charts, graphs or tables that present statistics often look impressive, but they are not always reliable. Sometimes figures are inaccurate through poor collection and analysis of the facts. At other times, statistics are deliberately presented in a way that affects people’s reactions positively or negatively.


1


Complete the notes about assessing statistics with the words and phrases from the box. If you don’t know any of the words, look them up in a dictionary before you start this exercise.


add up axis context data findings made up sample source survey


Use common sense when you assess how accurate and useful statistics are. For example, are the numbers correct? If a report claims that 70% of customers prefer product A, and 40% prefer product B, clearly the figures do not presented out of


add up a correctly. Sometimes figures are b. If you see an advertisement that claims ‘contains


50 grams less fat’, ask yourself ‘less fat than what?’ Reliable articles or reports quote the organization or author that is the


c of their statistics and mention the date when the d was collected. If these details are not included, use the internet to search


for other reports or articles with the same information. If you can’t find any, the original report or article probably contains statistics that are incorrect, or even


based on research should always say how many people were involved in an experiment or f. If a psychological experiment reports that the


e. Reports g are


based on interviewing 100 students at one university, the results are unlikely to apply to all students at all universities because the


h of students interviewed was too small.


Statistics presented in charts and graphs can show information in a misleading way. A common trick is to start the Y (vertical)


i at a number that is not zero. A newspaper


headline that says ‘Petrol prices rise’ accompanied by chart A will have a very different effect on readers from one accompanied by chart B, even though the actual figures are the same.


A B


C21 skills


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English for the 21st


Century • Unit 4


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