What is 1 real life example where statistics have been used to misrepresent a situation? An example
Question:
What is 1 real life example where statistics have been used to misrepresent a situation?
An example would be in 1936 when Literary Digest magazine wanted to predict the outcome of that year's presidential election using ten million telephone and Digest subscribers as their sample of voters. The poll came out as Landon would beat Roosevelt by a landslide, however FDR was the one who won the election (and by a landslide). The statistics of the poll were misrepresented because the people who participated were only people who owned telephones and who had magazine subscriptions (which means they were fairly well off considering this was the time of the Great Depression), many of whom were also Republicans. The sample was not sufficient to represent the whole of the voters.
Introduction To Statistical Investigations
ISBN: 9781118172148
1st Edition
Authors: Beth L.Chance, George W.Cobb, Allan J.Rossman Nathan Tintle, Todd Swanson Soma Roy