Inappropriate use of statistics essay sample

We cannot deny the fact that statistics has plays a very important role in almost everywhere. It serves as a measurement that that is vital to decision making and also contributes to evidences in proving discoveries or judgments. Businesses and banks need accuracy in decision-making, especially when making plans and this is where statistics comes in. Economics rely mainly on statistics. It is used to analyze results of various natural and social science studies. Major administrative decisions like increases in employees pay are results of data collected and analyzed using statistics. (emathzone, 2013) Almost every data people collect involves the use of statistics by just simply getting averages or to through the use of more complicated statistical methods.
Although statistics is a major help, there are still times when decisions made are wrong because of its inappropriate use. The use of statistics and its interpretations must be done correctly and precisely as its inappropriate use may put the outcome of its use in jeopardy even if it is done unintentionally. An example of the inappropriate use of statistics is when it is used for sample surveys because the result can be misleading although the represented population is very small. This is common during election periods when a survey organization tries to conduct a survey on the candidates for example using 1000 as the sample population when in fact, the whole electorate is millions. The result can mislead the candidates and the voters. Another common ways of using this is when companies conduct surveys on the use of their products. Although they can extract the comments or ratings from few people and use it in their advertisements, this result does not represent the whole population of users. Lack of context is another statistical misuse. This is when an incomplete background is presented before coming up with a conclusion as to the statistical results, because one cannot be sure that all aspects were considered first. (Bolton, 2010)

References:

Bolton, Paul (2010). Statistical literacy guide: How to spot spin and inappropriate use of statistics. Retrieved from http://www. getstats. org. uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/How-to-spot-error. pdf
eMathzone (2013). Basic Statistics. Retrieved from http://www. emathzone. com/tutorials/basic-statistics/importance-of-statistics-in-different-fields. html