Critical statistics : seeing beyond the headlines / Robert de Vries.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. 99% of statistics are made up -- The world runs on numbers -- Statistics in the fake news era -- Don't be part of the problem -- 2. Where do numbers come from? -- Making the news -- #nofilter -- Where's the harm? -- A lie can run around the world before the truth can get its boots on -- 3. Samples, samples everywhere ... -- It's samples all the way down ... -- Size matters -- Bad samples -- Spotting biased samples -- The magic of sampling -- 4. Measure for measure -- The dark side of immigration in open, generous Sweden -- Define your terms -- How to lie with definitions -- Counting is hard -- Asking the right questions -- There's no such thing as a perfect statistic -- 5. What does it mean to be average? Average man -- The mean doesn't always mean what you think it means -- Why doesn't everyone know this already? -- The median: The mean's under-appreciated brother -- Averages are not real -- 6. Fraction of a man -- There are two kinds of data in the world -- What's the point of percentages? -- Percentages - backwards and forwards -- Risky business Statistics aren't real -- 7. Cause and effect -- Kill or cure -- CSI: Causation -- The drugs don't work -- 'Have smartphones destroyed a generation?' -- Establishing causation is not impossible -- The rush to infer causation -- 8. Bad graphics -- Electioneering Charts as a collection of 'visual metaphors' -- Bad charts: A spotter's guide -- Nonsense graphs -- 9. Context is everything -- 'Is that a big number?' -- Four questions -- Camera tricks -- 10. Do it yourself -- The gender pay gap -- Writing up the results -- How to use statistics to tell the truth.

"This accessible and entertaining new textbook provides students with the knowledge and skills they need to understand the barrage of numbers encountered in their everyday lives and studies. Almost all the statistics in the news, on social media or in scientific reports are based on just a few core concepts, including measurement (ensuring we count the right thing), causation (determining whether one thing causes another) and sampling (using just a few people to understand a whole population). By explaining these concepts in plain language, without complex mathematics, this book prepares students to meet the statistical world head on and to begin their own quantitative research projects"--Amazon.com.