Damned lies, half truth and social statistics

Abstract

In recent time, the misinterpretation of statistics represents one of the most prevalent tools in misleading the general public. Most politicians and business organisations have used statistics to attract public sympathy, create an outrage or facilitate their personal interest. This is done by either lying or manipulating data to reveal just part of the truth beneficial to them. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to review how statistics could be used to mislead the public. The scope of the paper is limited to some selected descriptive statistics namely: The mean, percentages, and graphs. The study concluded that although social statistics, could be used to deceive the public, it is still a veritable tool for understanding and clarifying the way the social world works. However, it is recommended that before any social statistics is accepted, the source of the statistics must be verified to determine if it is for public or vested interests, the whole data for the statistics must be reviewed to ensure no missing data which might reveal additional findings.