Statistics influence opinion. They can also be the cornerstones of crucial decision-making. Whether statistics guide or mislead, clarify or obfuscate, depends on how they’re communicated. The accuracy of the message depends on how they’re interpreted, and inadvertent misinterpretation can have unfortunate outcomes. And volume doesn’t equate to impact – reams of statistics generated in quantitative research can seem impressive, but if you dig deeper, what they’re saying might not be good evidence.
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