Author Topic: Lies, damned Lies and statistics  (Read 4346 times)

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Offline susuz.1

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Re: Lies, damned Lies and statistics
« Reply #10 on: November 01, 2013, 00:05:15 AM »
If you look at the Land Registry statistics for house prices on the BBC site http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/uk_house_prices/html/ar.stm?d#table and in particular, look at the Greater London area, you'll be shocked to see places like Westminster having a massive 111.7% rise in a QUARTER  :o (based on 5 sales of detached properties) and Southwark of 49.6% rise in a quarter on 14 sales of detached properties  :o.  Because of low numbers of houses in the statistics, they can swing one way or the other from one quarter to the next.  Then they package all these statistics up as if they mean anything. On the same table for instance Lambeth went down over 28% in a quarter  :o

The statistics therefore don't seem to tell us much other than in those very rich areas/places such as Westminster, they seem to be doing very very well  :o

One thing a supply teacher said to me many years ago that I'll share. "The problem with statistics can be shown in this example - if you had a two foot long piece of wood and a four foot long piece of wood, statistically it would show that the average length of your wood is 3 feet long - but you haven't got a piece of wood 3 feet long"!!!  :D



Offline desmartinson

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Re: Lies, damned Lies and statistics
« Reply #11 on: November 01, 2013, 06:41:19 AM »
I've just checked and there are only 12 million more people here now than there were 50 years ago...
[/quote SuzzPuss, That's probably  because millions of them are not even registered or on record anywhere.   ;) and more people are leaving the UK now than 50 years ago. :(

Offline johntaylor49

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Re: Lies, damned Lies and statistics
« Reply #12 on: November 01, 2013, 12:18:25 PM »
The UK has a small immigrant population compared to may Countries, much less than Holland and France for example, and, surprisingly the USA has a lot  :)

I don't see any relevance to statistical lies and immigration at all.

I liked the piece of wood one,  :) Bit lie "opportunity cost" -- You bough a 5 ft plank to repair the shed, but us used it for the fence, you have now a £5 opportunity cost to apply because you have lost the opportunity to use the £5 to repair the shed  :)

Statistics can be presented so many ways, you have 9 pieces of wood 1 ft long and 1 100ft long, what is the average length, well obviously a bit over 10ft??? well not if you applied a "mean average" it would be more like 10.9 ft which is ridiculous where as a "standard differential" would be --- a bit over a foot! (Iam not working it out  :) ) yet both are statistically correct! 8 out of 10 cats eh?


Offline Highlander

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Re: Lies, damned Lies and statistics
« Reply #13 on: November 01, 2013, 12:37:06 PM »


Offline johntaylor49

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Re: Lies, damned Lies and statistics
« Reply #14 on: November 01, 2013, 12:41:35 PM »

Offline johntaylor49

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Re: Lies, damned Lies and statistics
« Reply #15 on: November 01, 2013, 12:52:59 PM »
To avoid this being dragged into a Xenophobia World Cup


Hide detail

1 in 8 of the usually resident UK population were born abroad 29-Aug-2013
ONS analysis of population by country of birth and nationality from the Annual Population Survey

What I find so annoying as well is the manipulation of Statistics and half truths, for example we are told that for every pound invested in the HS2 project "The Country" will gain £2.20, and does that include the interest charges on the total addition to the National Debt for a period of 25 years -- I doubt it, as that might actually show we get nothing back!

Spin, the wonderful invention of Capitalist Greed Party -- whoops sorry -- New Labour!





Offline Colwyn

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Re: Lies, damned Lies and statistics
« Reply #16 on: November 01, 2013, 19:04:36 PM »
Statistics can be presented so many ways, you have 9 pieces of wood 1 ft long and 1 100ft long, what is the average length, well obviously a bit over 10ft??? well not if you applied a "mean average"it would be more like 10.9 ft which is ridiculous where as a "standard differential" would be --- a bit over a foot! (Iam not working it out    :) ) yet both are statistically correct!
If you applied mean average (generally my preferred measure - on average) then it would indeed be 10.9ft. But mode average would give an answer of 1ft; and so would median average. You have to chose the right tool.

The "standard differential" is (most likely) the most usual connection device used in the drive axle of a motorcar. A "standard deviation" measure would tell you how wary you ought to be about the average you have calculated because it tells how far the data diverge - in your example it would be a bloody long way.

Offline Hamlet

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Re: Lies, damned Lies and statistics
« Reply #17 on: November 02, 2013, 05:06:54 AM »
 :-\ ? ? ?  :-\

Offline johntaylor49

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Re: Lies, damned Lies and statistics
« Reply #18 on: November 04, 2013, 09:39:03 AM »
HaHa Colwyn quite correct, but I bet you had no idea I really meant Standard deviation did you?  :)

Everything today seems to be based around "acceptable convincing sounding lies", and total inaccuracies from the "statistics" based on
ridiculous information like the House prices index to "surveys" that show how the bulk of the British people feel based on as many as 1000 opinions in a few provincial towns, --oh the other 71.x million, no we never asked them.

Has anyone actually ever been "polled"? I have been asked twice about Radio Listening habits but that is it.

By the way for those most concerned about immigration, the last check showed that of the I may not have third figure right) about 70 Million people in the UK the number of people arriving exceeded those leaving by about 160,000 last year is it really that much of an issue? Makes for great sensationalism though!


Offline tinkerman

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Re: Lies, damned Lies and statistics
« Reply #19 on: November 04, 2013, 14:03:55 PM »
More swimmers drown than non swimmers




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