Lying with Statistics Statistics can often be used to mislead. Consider the following situations and try to "deconstruct"

1. Suppose someone tells you that more people were killed in airplanes last year than in 1925. Has air safety diminished since then?

2. In 1953 news reports stated that 1952 was the "worst polio year in U.S. history". Far more cases of polio were reported than ever before. Could there be anything misleading about this?

3. During the Spanish-American War, the death rate in the Navy was nine per thousand. For civilians in New York City during the same period, it was sixteen per thousand. Navy recruiters later used these figures to show that it was safer to be in the Navy than out of it. What do you think?

4. A carefully designed study shows a highly significant correlation between cigarette smoking and poor grades in college. The authors conclude that if you smoke cigarettes, it's likely to harm your grades. Assuming that there are no sampling biases or other errors, can you argue with the study's conclusion?

please explain in detail.......