How to Lie with Statistics: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:39, 21 October 2020

Revision as of 16:43, 21 October 2020

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'''''How to Lie with Statistics''''' is a book written by [[Darrell Huff]] in 1954 presenting an introduction to [[statistics]] for the general reader. Not a statistician, Huff was a journalist who wrote many "how to" articles as a freelancer.

The book is a brief, breezy illustrated volume outlining errorsthe when[[misuse itof comesstatistics]] and errors toin the interpretation of statistics, and how these errors may create incorrect conclusions.

In the 1960s and 1970s, it became a standard textbook introduction to the subject of statistics for many college students. It has become one of the best-selling statistics books in history, with over one and a half million copies sold in the English-language edition.<ref name="fiftyyears">"Over the last fifty years, How to Lie with Statistics has sold more copies than any other statistical text." J. M. Steele. "[http://www-stat.wharton.upenn.edu/~steele/Publications/PDF/TN148.pdf Darrell Huff and Fifty Years of ''How to Lie with Statistics'']. ''Statistical Science'', 20 (3), 2005, 205–209.</ref> It has also been widely translated.

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Themes of the book include "[[Correlation does not imply causation]]" and "Using [[random sampling]]". It also shows how statistical graphs can be used to distort reality, for example by truncating the bottom of a line or bar chart, so that differences seem larger than they are, or by representing one-dimensional quantities on a pictogram by two- or three-dimensional objects to compare their sizes, so that the reader forgets that the images do not scale the same way the quantities do.

The original edition contained illustrations by artist [[Irving Geis]]. In a UK edition, these were replaced with cartoons by [[Mel Calman]].{{fact}}

==See also==

*''[[Freakonomics]]''

*[[Lies, damned lies, and statistics]]

*[[Misuse of statistics]]

*''[[The Tiger That Isn't]]'', a book on taking numbers out of context

== Related books by Darrell Huff ==

* ''How to Take a Chance'' (1959)

* ''Score: The Strategy of Taking Tests'' (1961)

* ''Cycles in Your Life: The Rhythms of War, Wealth, Nature, and Human Behavior'' (1964)

* ''How to Figure the Odds on Everything'' (1972)

* ''The Complete How to Figure It: Using Math in Everyday Life'' (1996)

==Notes==

{{reflist}}

==SourcesReferences==

* Darrell Huff, (1954) ''How to Lie with Statistics'' (illust. I. Geis), Norton, New York, {{ISBN|0-393-31072-8}}

* Darrell Huff, (1991) ''How to Lie with Statistics'' Penguin; New Ed edition, {{ISBN|0-14-013629-0}}

==External links==

{{Wikiquote}}

*[http://www.mooreds.com/wordpress/archives/158 Book review] at www.mooreds.com

*[http://plus.maths.org/content/how-lie-statistics-0 Book review] at plus.maths.org

*[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51291.How_to_Lie_with_Statistics Book reviews] at goodreads.com

*Book readable online: [[iarchive:HowToLieWithStatistics|https://archive.org/details/HowToLieWithStatistics]]

{{Misuse of statistics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:How To Lie With Statistics}}

[[Category:1954 non-fiction books]]