Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Why I Wish We Taught More Statistics

Ed Yong explains what it means to say that something causes 16% of cancers.
It doesn't mean:
  • He can name the cancer victim
  • He is certain it causes cancer
  • His 16% is higher than someone else's 15%
  • 84% of cancer is caused by something else (100-16=84)
I'd like to live in a world where this makes perfect sense to everyone who has finished high-school math.

No comments:

Post a Comment