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1-1 Discussion: Statistics in Society Research Assignment

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From the perspective of a person in the street, statisticians do not always get it right. Sometimes it seems that they get it spectacularly wrong. Modern society applies statistics to phenomena as diverse as disease prediction and politics, from actuarial tables in insurance to weather forecasting; we have integrated “big data” and “number-crunching” into many critical functions of our culture and society.

Do you think the use of statistics is more of a positive or negative influence on society as a whole? Why do you take this position?

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1-1 Discussion: Statistics in Society
From the perspective of a person in the street, statisticians do not always get it right. Sometimes it seems that they get it spectacularly wrong. Modern society applies statistics to phenomena as diverse as disease prediction and politics, from actuarial tables in insurance to weather forecasting; we have integrated “big data” and “number-crunching” into many critical functions of our culture and society.  Do you think the use of statistics is more of a positive or negative influence on society as a whole? Why do you take this position?
I believe that statistics have had a positive influence in the society since there is emphasis on using data and facts. When well presented statistical information helps to evaluate trends and this is more objective than opinions. Some beliefs are also challenged when presented with statistics, like the decline in crime rates in the last two decades including drug violence and homicides. It is likely that focus on isolated crimes and the effects of past crimes still affect people’s perceptions (Lauren-Brooke and Roeder). When making decisions users of statistics have to differentiate various that result from the known causes and those from unknown or special causes.
Statistics are useful in everyday life to make conclusions as users choose alternatives based on facts. However, merely relying on one aspect of statistics may misrepresent information even such statistics is accurate (Utts 73). Economic growth does not indicate tha...
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