Search Results for: anchoring

The joy of living in a fact-free world of official government propaganda #Cellphone #Crashes #Propaganda

WCSO is the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. They put out this social media poster on Twitter, regarding cell phone usage / distracted driving and fatalities. They cite ODOT Crash Analysis & Reporting, 2015. But check the details. Per the ODOT report just 1 of the 73 pedestrian fatalities was linked to cell phone usage (see page 18, fatal pedestrian accident data). 0.7% of all accidents and 0.5% of accidents having a fatality were linked to cell phone usage. Most people…

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Using Questionable Statistics to Drive Up Wedding Costs?

What is the claimed average cost of a wedding in the U.S.? $35,329 in 2016, says “The Knot” (not including costs of a honeymoon trip). More on their press release. This value is *widely* distributed in the media, on social media, and in online forums. Other estimates come from Conde Nast Bridal Infobank and The Fairchild Bridal Group. How can an average wedding cost $35,329 when 62% of American have less than $1,000 in their savings account and only 10-20% have…

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How to use charts for misleading propaganda!

This chart appeared on a blog post saying auto sales are “down again” and this should worry us about a recession.  See that blue arrow at the right? Looks horrible!!!! But this chart design is a real mess. First, the blue arrow anchors our view on the blue line and its downturn at the right. But the real chart is the harder to see gray column chart. Column charts are a *terrible* way to show a trend – line charts…

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Social media propaganda posters use "new math"!

TL; DR Summary For the math challenged: 99% of 1% is about 1% of all voters 57% of 99% is about 57% of all voters Therefore, the 1% always win the elections – say what? Their own poster shows that 57% of voters took part, not 1% and there is no indication that 99% of the electorate is not voting. Geesh. This poster is nonsense. But you can be sure it was shared tens of thousands of times online. Because people…

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Social media propaganda posters use “new math”!

TL; DR Summary For the math challenged: 99% of 1% is about 1% of all voters 57% of 99% is about 57% of all voters Therefore, the 1% always win the elections – say what? Their own poster shows that 57% of voters took part, not 1% and there is no indication that 99% of the electorate is not voting. Geesh. This poster is nonsense. But you can be sure it was shared tens of thousands of times online. Because people…

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