Statistics: a Necessary Evil
by
Nirmal Devi
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University,Daytona Beach,FL32114

In our time , there is no escape from figures. We simply cannot get away with the excuse that we are not interested in Statistics. The two words Statistics and Life have come to be pretty interwined. Through Statistics, modern man evaluates business activity, records social progress, elects Presidents and keeps abreast of their popularity, measures interests and aptitudes, determines which television shows will survive and which will not, decides whether to invest in stocks or not, keeps track of sports, compares the effect of new medicines over the existing ones and the list does not seem to end.

Although the quality of some statistical evidence is unimpeachable, but I am sorry to say that most of the quoted Statistics is misleading to the common person. In this talk I will pose a diagnostic quiz. This quiz will provide a chance to see what kind of statistical eye is required to save ourselves from the evil.

Date received: November 4, 2002