You've mastered the fundamentals of evidence evaluation! Now let's tackle the sneaky world of statistical manipulation. Even good data can be twisted to mislead you.
These tricks are everywhere—ads, politics, social media. Once you spot them, you'll never be fooled again.
Engagement Message
What's the most misleading statistic you've ever encountered?
Percentage vs. Absolute Framing: "Crime dropped 50%!" sounds dramatic. But if crime went from 2 incidents to 1 incident, that's technically true but misleading.
Always ask: "50% of what number?" The absolute values tell the real story.
Engagement Message
Which sounds more impressive: "sales doubled" or "sales went from 1 to 2"?
Cherry-picked Baselines: Pick the right starting point, and any trend looks good. "Profits up 300% since January!" might hide that January was the worst month ever.
The baseline you choose completely changes the story the data tells.
Engagement Message
Why might someone choose an unusually bad month as their starting point?
Survivorship Bias: You only hear about the successes, not the failures. "90% of our customers love this product!" But what about the customers who returned it and aren't surveyed?
The missing data often tells the most important part of the story.
Engagement Message
What's missing from testimonials that say "This investment strategy made me rich"?
Misleading Averages: "Average salary increased 20%!" But if the CEO got a massive raise while everyone else stayed flat, the average goes up while most people see no change.
Remember your statistics basics: when might median be more honest than mean?
Engagement Message
Which would better represent typical employee experience: mean or median salary?
