Mark Twain was fond of saying “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Twain attributed the statement to Disraeli, but scholars disagree on its origin. Why so much debate over who suggested statistics make for the most diabolical of lies? Probably because statistics can be manipulated easily to support any point of view and yet sound like proofs.
Still, people are obsessed with counting because numbers can also reveal important truths that might otherwise go unnoticed. For example, statistics may reveal that more mosquito-born illnesses are being reported in Miami this May than in the past ten Mays. This signals the need for fast and aggressive mosquito control. Meanwhile, not counting important occurrences can leave people in the dark. When Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery discovered no one was collecting data on police shootings, he convinced The Post to research and compile the data for 2015. The results revealed that 990 peopled were shot and killed by police that year and that 25% of those people were mentally ill. The data included facts about the gender, race, weapons held, etc., of those who were shot. Now the information can be used by the police, government agencies, concerned citizens, etc., to discuss actions that might prevent such shootings in the future.
The purpose of this web site is to
- collect links to credible, useful, and important statistics and make them available in one convenient location.
- highlight interesting truths that statistics reveal.
driftWORD 