Misuse of Statistics
The misuse of Statistics may take several forms some of which are explained below.
- Sources of data not given: At times, the source of data is not given. In the absence of the source, the reader does not know how far the data are reliable. Further, if he wants to refer to the original source, he is unable to do so.
- Defective data: Another misuse is that sometimes one gives defective data. This may be done knowingly in order to defend one’s position or to prove a particular point. This apart, the definition used to denote a certain phenomenon may be defective. For example, in case of data relating to unemployed persons, the definition may include even those who are employed, though partially. The question here is how far it is justified to include partially employed persons amongst unemployed ones.
- Unrepresentative sample: In statistics, several times one has to conduct a survey, which necessitates to choose a sample from the given population or universe. The sample may turn out to be unrepresentative of the universe. One may choose a sample just on the basis of convenience. He may collect the desired information from either his friends or nearby respondents in his neighborhood even though such respondents do not constitute representative sample.
- Inadequate sample: Earlier, we have seen that a sample that is unrepresentative of the universe is a major misuse of statistics. This apart, at times one may conduct a survey based on an extremely inadequate sample. For example, in a city we may find that there are 1, 00,000 households. When we have to conduct a household survey, we may take a sample of merely 100households comprising only 0.1 per cent of the universe. A survey based on such a small sample may not yield right information.
- Unfair Comparisons: An important misuse of statistics is making unfair comparisons from the data collected. For instance, one may construct an index of production choosing the base year where the production was much less. Then he may compare the subsequent year’s production from this low base. Such a comparison will undoubtedly give a rosy picture of the production though in reality it is not so. Another source of unfair comparisons could be when one makes absolute comparisons instead of relative ones. An absolute comparison of two figures, say, of production or export, may show a good increase, but in relative terms it may turn out to be very negligible. Another example of unfair comparison is when the population in two cities is different, but a comparison of overall death rates and deaths by a particular disease is attempted. Such a comparison is wrong. Likewise, when data are not properly classified or when changes in the composition of population in the two years are not taken into consideration, comparisons of such data would be unfair as they would lead to misleading conclusions.
- Unwanted conclusions: Another misuse of statistics may be on account of unwarranted conclusions. This may be as a result of making false assumptions. For example, while making projections of population in the next five years, one may assume a lower rate of growth though the past two years indicate otherwise. Sometimes one may not be sure about the changes in business environment in the near future. In such a case, one may use an assumption that may turn out to be wrong. Another source of unwarranted conclusion may be the use of wrong average. Suppose in a series there are extreme values, one is too high while the other is too low, such as 800 and 50. The use of an arithmetic average in such a case may give a wrong idea. Instead, harmonic mean would be proper in such a case.
- Confusion of correlation and causation: In statistics, several times one has to examine the relationship between two variables. A close relationship between the two variables may not establish a cause-and-effect-relationship in the sense that one variable is the cause and the other is the effect. It should be taken as something that measures degree of association rather than try to find out causal relationship.
