{"id":1117,"date":"2024-07-25T07:02:51","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T07:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117"},"modified":"2024-07-30T07:38:09","modified_gmt":"2024-07-30T07:38:09","slug":"rethinking-thinking-about-figures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117","title":{"rendered":"Rethinking thinking about figures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>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\u2019re communicated. The accuracy of the message depends on how they\u2019re interpreted, and inadvertent misinterpretation can have unfortunate outcomes. And volume doesn\u2019t equate to impact \u2013 reams of statistics generated in quantitative research can seem impressive, but if you dig deeper, what they\u2019re saying might not be good\u00a0evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can read the rest of this article, complete with additional feature content, on the Research Outreach website <a href=\"https:\/\/researchoutreach.org\/articles\/rethinking-thinking-about-figures\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/researchoutreach.org\/articles\/special-bond-equine-assisted-services-helps-families-impacted-domestic-abuse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">here<\/mark><\/span><\/a>. (Opens in new tab)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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\u2019re communicated. The accuracy of the message depends on how they\u2019re interpreted, and inadvertent misinterpretation can have unfortunate outcomes. And volume doesn\u2019t equate to impact \u2013 reams of statistics generated in quantitative&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1118,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107,175,21],"tags":[248,159,220,249,247],"class_list":["post-1117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-research","category-science","tag-numeracy","tag-research-outreach","tag-science-communication","tag-statistical-significance","tag-statistics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Rethinking thinking about figures - Daryl Ilbury<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rethinking thinking about figures - Daryl Ilbury\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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\u2019re communicated. The accuracy of the message depends on how they\u2019re interpreted, and inadvertent misinterpretation can have unfortunate outcomes. And volume doesn\u2019t equate to impact \u2013 reams of statistics generated in quantitative...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Daryl Ilbury\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-25T07:02:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-30T07:38:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rethinking-thinking-about-numbers.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"731\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Daryl Ilbury\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Daryl Ilbury\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117\",\"name\":\"Rethinking thinking about figures - Daryl Ilbury\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rethinking-thinking-about-numbers.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-25T07:02:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-30T07:38:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a14819958c5543922b4f89590d3f7407\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rethinking-thinking-about-numbers.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rethinking-thinking-about-numbers.png\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":731,\"caption\":\"Abstract graphs\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rethinking thinking about figures\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/\",\"name\":\"Daryl Ilbury\",\"description\":\"Science Journalist, Writer and Author\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a14819958c5543922b4f89590d3f7407\",\"name\":\"Daryl Ilbury\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a0c20476e6c95b82fba498dc74de7066d8e5d80ee0da942689fb507062c4590e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a0c20476e6c95b82fba498dc74de7066d8e5d80ee0da942689fb507062c4590e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Daryl Ilbury\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rethinking thinking about figures - Daryl Ilbury","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rethinking thinking about figures - Daryl Ilbury","og_description":"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\u2019re communicated. The accuracy of the message depends on how they\u2019re interpreted, and inadvertent misinterpretation can have unfortunate outcomes. And volume doesn\u2019t equate to impact \u2013 reams of statistics generated in quantitative...","og_url":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117","og_site_name":"Daryl Ilbury","article_published_time":"2024-07-25T07:02:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-07-30T07:38:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":731,"url":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rethinking-thinking-about-numbers.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Daryl Ilbury","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Daryl Ilbury"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117","url":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117","name":"Rethinking thinking about figures - Daryl Ilbury","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rethinking-thinking-about-numbers.png","datePublished":"2024-07-25T07:02:51+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-30T07:38:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a14819958c5543922b4f89590d3f7407"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rethinking-thinking-about-numbers.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Rethinking-thinking-about-numbers.png","width":1280,"height":731,"caption":"Abstract graphs"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=1117#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rethinking thinking about figures"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/","name":"Daryl Ilbury","description":"Science Journalist, Writer and Author","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a14819958c5543922b4f89590d3f7407","name":"Daryl Ilbury","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a0c20476e6c95b82fba498dc74de7066d8e5d80ee0da942689fb507062c4590e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a0c20476e6c95b82fba498dc74de7066d8e5d80ee0da942689fb507062c4590e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Daryl Ilbury"},"url":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1117"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1119,"href":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117\/revisions\/1119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}