Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics

The above quote most often attributed to either Mark Twain or to the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, makes the point that it is easy to manipulate statistics to prove almost anything you want them to. Two cases in point:

(1) Various mass media news outlets have been discussing and /or showing the mass protests that have been occurring in France against President Macron’s financial policies. If one could believe those reports - thousands and thousands of protesters have marched in the streets of Paris. And in fact that is probably true. But what is also true is that, according to CBC*, there were (only) about 136,000 protesters across France. There is no doubt that 136,000 people is a lot of people, especially if they were all in one spot, but it is less than .03 percent of the total population of France. 136,000 people (given that Canada’s population is approximately half of France’s) is the equivalent to 77,000 people protesting across Canada. Impressive numbers that would warrant the government’s attention but not sufficient numbers to suggest that the government is about to be overthrown.

(2) The CBC has reported that one out of four adult Canadians have been affected by a shortage of a prescribed medication. On the surface, if one just reads the headlines that sounds as if a lot of Canadians have been affected- in fact based on 2016 Statistics Canada numbers, at that rate - just over 7 million Canadians were affected because they did not have access their prescribed medication. That would perhaps reflect a Canadian health emergency. However if one reads more of the article it goes on to refine the statement by saying the 25% of Canadians have either been affected directly or by having known someone who has. Only 11% of Canadians have been directly affected. That is still a big number and clearly there is a problem with drug companies ensuring that there are sufficient supplies. But there was no information as to whether or not the delays were weeks or even months or if they were a few days. Just saying 25% of Canadians had been in some way affected directly or knew someone who had been, is insufficient to decide if one needs to be concerned.


We all use statistics in some form - they are a convenient form of shorthand that allows us to discuss large numbers without the cumbersomeness of repeating eight or nine digit numbers; they allow us to verbally paint pictures that are easy to see. No matter how illiterate we might be in terms of percentages and fractions, we all know what one quarter of the pie means. The mass media have a special responsibility to ensure that the numbers that they use are not only accurate but that they are presented in such a way that they are both easy to understand and that they reflect what is really happening. As long as the media insists on looking for the most dramatic headlines, pictures or videos while ignoring all of the facts, they can not be trusted. By dumbing down the content to the most attention seeking information the media prevent us from making informed decisions. By inflating the numbers by not putting them in context is not only disingenuous, it is dangerous.

Please just reports the facts….. All of the facts.

*https://www.cbc.ca/news/ world/macron- address-france-protests-1.4938990)