In the Statistics in Action feature at the beginning of this chapter, several examples of false or misleading statistics were discussed. Claims such as One in four American children under age 12 is hungry or at risk of hunger are often used to persuade the public or the government to donate or allocate more money to charitable groups that feed the poor. Researchers sometimes claim a relationship exists between two seemingly unrelated quantities such as a CEO’s golf handicap and the company’s stock performance; such relationships are often weak at best and of little practical importance. Read the Statistics in Action and Statistics in Action Revisited features in this chapter before completing this activity. 

1. Look for an article in a newspaper or on the Internet in which a large proportion or percentage of a population is purported to be “at risk” of some calamity, as in the childhood hunger example. Does the article cite a source or provide any information to support the proportion or percentage reported? Is the goal of the article to persuade some individual or group to take some action? If so, what action is being requested? Do you believe that the writer of the article may have some motive for exaggerating the problem? If so, give some possible motives. 

2. Look for another article in which a relationship between two seemingly unrelated quantities is purported to exist, as in the CEO golf handicap and stock performance study. Select an article that contains some information on how the data were collected. Identify the target population and the data-collection method. Based on what is presented in the article, do you believe that the data are representative of the population? Explain. Is the purported relationship of any practical interest? Explain.