Key Lessons From Huff's Anecdotes
Huff’s introductory anecdotes point to three key lessons: Check whether the evidence is representative. His father in law judged California’s crime level by newspaper coverage. Huff explains that this confuses the spa...
Huff’s introductory anecdotes point to three key lessons: Check whether the evidence is representative. His father in law judged California’s crime level by newspaper coverage. Huff explains that this confuses the space devoted to crime with the actual crime rate—a biased basis for comparison. [:cite[1]{ln=95}] Ask what would have happened anyway. Reports that antihistamines relieved colds in a quarter of patients sound persuasive until Huff notes that a similar proportion improved without treatment. Improvement alone does not demonstrate that a treatment worked. [:cite[1]{ln=96}] Don’t mistake scientific presentation for proof. Huff warns that impressive statistical language can make weak or misleading conclusions look authoritative. ==Examine the evidence and comparisons, not just the confident presentation.== [:cite[1]{ln=96}] A correction to my earlier answer: Huff says professional statisticians contributed examples ; he does not say those contributors personally misused statistics. [:cite[1]{ln=95}]