How to Lie with Statistics

Front Cover
W. W. Norton & Company, Dec 7, 2010 - Mathematics - 144 pages

If you want to outsmart a crook, learn his tricks—Darrell Huff explains exactly how in the classic How to Lie with Statistics.

From distorted graphs and biased samples to misleading averages, there are countless statistical dodges that lend cover to anyone with an ax to grind or a product to sell. With abundant examples and illustrations, Darrell Huff’s lively and engaging primer clarifies the basic principles of statistics and explains how they’re used to present information in honest and not-so-honest ways. Now even more indispensable in our data-driven world than it was when first published, How to Lie with Statistics is the book that generations of readers have relied on to keep from being fooled.

 

Contents

Acknowledgments
8
Introduction
9
The Sample with the Builtin Bias
13
The WellChosen Average
29
The Little Figures That Are Not There
39
Much Ado about Practically Nothing
55
The GeeWhiz Graph
62
The OneDimensional Picture
68
The Semiattached Figure
76
Post Hoc Rides Again
89
How to Statisticulate
102
How to Talk Back to a Statistic
124
Copyright

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About the author (2010)

Darrell Huff lives in Carmel, California.

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