How to Lie with Statistics

达莱尔·哈夫，美国统计专家。1913年出生在美国爱荷华州，毕业于爱荷华州立大学（the State University of lowa）,获得学士学位和硕士学位，在此期间他由于成绩优异加入了美国大学优等生的荣誉学会（Phi Beta Kappa），同时还参加了社会心理学、统计学以及智力测验等研究项目。达莱尔·哈夫的文章多见于《哈泼斯》、《星期六邮报》、《时尚先生》以及《纽约时报》等美国顶尖媒体。1963年，由于他的贡献被授予国家学院钟奖（National School Bell ）

出版者:W. W. Norton & Company

作者:Darrell Huff

页数:144

出版时间:1993-10-17

价格:USD 11.95

装帧:Paperback

isbn号码:9780393310726

图书标签:Statistics统计统计学科普英文原版思维经济数学

"There is terror in numbers," writes Darrell Huff in How to Lie with Statistics. And nowhere does this terror translate to blind acceptance of authority more than in the slippery world of averages, correlations, graphs, and trends. Huff sought to break through "the daze that follows the collision of statistics with the human mind" with this slim volume, first published in 1954. The book remains relevant as a wake-up call for people unaccustomed to examining the endless flow of numbers pouring from Wall Street, Madison Avenue, and everywhere else someone has an axe to grind, a point to prove, or a product to sell. "The secret language of statistics, so appealing in a fact-minded culture, is employed to sensationalize, inflate, confuse, and oversimplify," warns Huff.

Although many of the examples used in the book are charmingly dated, the cautions are timeless. Statistics are rife with opportunities for misuse, from "gee-whiz graphs" that add nonexistent drama to trends, to "results" detached from their method and meaning, to statistics' ultimate bugaboo--faulty cause-and-effect reasoning. Huff's tone is tolerant and amused, but no-nonsense. Like a lecturing father, he expects you to learn something useful from the book, and start applying it every day. Never be a sucker again, he cries!

Even if you can't find a source of demonstrable bias, allow yourself some degree of skepticism about the results as long as there is a possibility of bias somewhere. There always is.

Read How to Lie with Statistics. Whether you encounter statistics at work, at school, or in advertising, you'll remember its simple lessons. Don't be terrorized by numbers, Huff implores. "The fact is that, despite its mathematical base, statistics is as much an art as it is a science." --Therese Littleton

读后感

尽管读本科时能通过统计学考试，后来读研究生时居然遭遇了一个需要借助于统计学开展研究的学科，但实事求是地说，统计学令我感到头疼。这也是我后来下决定改变专业，走上一条完全靠文字吃饭而远离任何数字的职业道路的原因之一。 当然，理解统计学的基本原理并不难，难的是将其...  

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用户评价

有点意思。但看完了，我都不知道以后怎么办好了，怀疑数据，却又无从证实。

作者怎么有点左派宣传家的意思？

作者怎么有点左派宣传家的意思？

书太老了，语句很怪，精髓还在那里。同等书推荐drunkard's walk

作者怎么有点左派宣传家的意思？