Statistical Reasoning in Everyday Life :: essays research papers

Statistical Reasoning in Everyday LifeThis chapter taught me the wideness of consciousness statistical data and how to evaluate it with common sense. Almost quotidian we be subjected to statistical data in newspapers and on TV. My usual response was to accept those statistics as being valid. Which I think is a modal(a) assessment for most people. However, reading this chapter opens my eyes to the fact that statistical data can be very misleading. It shows how data can be skew to support a certain groups agenda. Although most statistical data presented may not seem to affect us personally in our daily consists, it can however fork over an impact. For example, statistics can specify the way people vote on certain issues.In evaluating statistical data one thing to consider is the time that is used. By encountering the different statistical measurement tools and how they differ from one another, it is possible to infer whether a statistical graph can be accepted at face va lue. A good example is using the mean to designate averages. This was demonstrated by using the mean as a measure of determining the distribution of incomes. The mean income depicted was, $70,000 per year. At face value, it looks as though the sample population enjoys a rather high income. However, upon eyesight individual salaries, it becomes obvious that only a few salaries are liable for the high average income as depicted by the mean. The majority of the salaries were wellhead under the $70,000 average. Therefore, the mean distributed income of $70,000 was at best misleading. By also sounding at the median and mode measures of the income distributions, one has a clearer picture of the existing income distributions. Because this data contained extreme values, a standard deviation curve would have given better representation of salary distribution and would have highlighted the salaries at the high level and how they skewed the mean value.Another important notion outlined in this chapter is the correlation coefficient. The importance of this is being able to understand to what extent two things actually relate to each other. By having this awareness, we are better able to understand and function in the world we live in.I learned some key factors in making the ending whether statistical data is reliable Consider the population sample and if it is spokesperson of the inferences that the data is claiming.