Statistics and Lies....

Ever been tempted to use a distorted statistic to improve a point?

Some are Masters at such art of deception.

It’s made easier because many people don’t spend too much time reasoning on what they are told.

What results is a very rocky foundation.

Three such ways that have been tried come to me immediately.

The first was a Salesman eager to reinforce his value to his new boss.

In his monthly presentation with his colleagues he would assert the value of his business compared year on year and month on month.

Unlike his colleagues he said he was using a “superior” measure of the business taken by him to produce a good comparison in hard times.

Asked to revert the next month by comparing actual profit like everyone else he suddenly found himself in high deficit and a fall in Ego! Numbers that don’t give you the truth have no value or Integrity.

In an Office recently someone reading a newspaper told everyone they would certainly not be getting a Metallic Grey car because Insurers had reported a massively higher accident rate than other colours.

It was good to hear a voice of reason point out that the reason was that statistically there were considerably more cars of that colour on the road!

Lastly, in an effort to claim that German football is more popular than the English Premier League, figures were released to show the average attendance at week end in Germany was higher than in the UK.

Responding, the Football Association gently countered that a better way to measure was to take the capacity of each ground in the league and measure the percentage of seats taken overall.

You’ve got it.

Relax. The UK football fan is alive and well with our grounds filled to greater capacity than Germany.

So, when you are on your way to the Ground in your Metallic Grey Car, rethink how you present those figures to your Boss next week to avoid an own goal.