Q11 Number Abuse

Question 1

How can you be skeptical of a statement that provides a percentage from a survey?

Answer 1

Find the “Whole” in the Portion of a Whole

Question 2

Confirmation bias

Answer 2

Selecting or interpreting evidence in a way that confirms pre-existing beliegs

Question 3

Skepticism

Answer 3

• Doubt
• A default to question assertions that merit further examination
• Enables data literacy
• Encourages us to look at claims with fresh eyes

Question 4

Cynicism

Answer 4

• Disbelief
• A default position that presumes assertions are suspicious
• Can be corrosive/cynical to assume the worst

Question 5

Cherry-picking

Answer 5

Selecting favorable evidence while ignoring unfavorable but relevant data

Question 6

When ranking top ten nations with the most diabetes cases, you must

Answer 6

Normalize for population by calculating diabetes cases as a percentage of the population

Question 7

Rate implies . . .

Answer 7

Population/Normalization

Question 8

How to normalize for finding if bikes or vehicles are safer?

Answer 8

Calculate fatalities per 100 million miles for each bikes and vehicles

Question 9

Dubious data

Answer 9

Numbers that appear valid but lack empirical origins

Question 10

Empiricism

Answer 10

Reliance on rigorous evidence obtained through systematic observation or experiment

Question 11

Rigorous

Answer 11

Thorough, tested

Question 12

Evidence

Answer 12

Requires facts and information that truly reflect whatever is being measured

Question 13

Systematic methods/experiments

Answer 13

At the core of science

Question 14

Magazines and websites know that . . .

Answer 14

Numbers sell
- Unrounded specific numbers sell better because they convey authenticity and reliability

Question 15

Fallacy

Answer 15

False reasoning

Question 16

Gambler’s fallacy

Answer 16

A belief that the past can influence an independent event

Question 17

Narrative fallacy

Answer 17

A good story beats raw truth or logic

Question 18

Emilie Durkheim

Answer 18

• Found patterns in suicide rates in European nations correlating with religion
• Lower in nations that were mostly Catholic
• Higher in majority Protestant nations

Question 19

Durkheim’s reasoning

Answer 19

• Social control
• Catholicism includes a pope and firm hierarchy, which exercises greater control than decentralized Protestantism

Question 20

Debates against Durkheim

Answer 20

• How he gathered and categorized data
• Scientists confirmed that religion and suicide have no broad link
• Ecological fallacy

Question 21

Ecological fallacy

Answer 21

Presuming group attributes apply to individuals who belong to that group

Question 22

Assuming that the male next to you is a sports fan because on average, the typical male is more interested in sports than the typical female

Answer 22

Ecological fallacy

Question 23

Presuming that someone you know with a high education will wait to marry/not marry at all because on average, people with higher levels of education wait longer to get married than do those with less education

Answer 23

Ecological fallacy

Question 24

An average cannot be used to . . .

Answer 24

Make inferences about individuals from a group they’re in

Question 25

Exception fallacy

Answer 25

• Presuming attributes of a few individuals are representative of a group
• The few do not represent the whole

Question 26

Assuming that someone’s group of friends is ill-mannered because someone you encountered from it was mean to you

Answer 26

Exception fallacy