Only Happy When It Rains

A report today suggests that statistics are being used for spin, particularly in the case of the so-called drought in SE England at the moment. (Aside: they can't do that up here, they'd be laughed at - it's rained all week and we even had hailstones, massive skull-crushers, on Wednesday - May!).

Back to the report. No particular surprise there. We all know the quote "lies, damn lies and statistics", but what seems to be changing is our ability to question statistics. Perhaps as understanding of maths decreases in schools we are creating a future problem. Most likely the problem is already there. Watch any selection of adverts, or news stories, and think about the statistics involved.

"A report recently showed that 39.2% of all workers take a sick day on Mondays or Fridays, effectively giving themselves a long weekend". Gosh, that sounds dreadful, we're a nation of liars and cheats! But think about it - on a 5 day week, the chances of being ill on a Monday or a Friday, if completely random, is 2/5 = 40%. So the value is what's expected, but employers groups could use this statistic to persuade us not to take sick days...

Agitate, educate, organise.