I agree. The problem is the manipulation of data/statistics to paint a picture not inherently implied. I worked for an animal pharmaceuticals/biologicals company for years and once behind the veil…it was startling. We see this a lot in our mainstream media and social media outlets. I watched as the CDC changed the scale of their graphs to paint a certain kind of picture over the last 18 months. Nevermind the data disasters that happened.

I like what you mention here about bad practitioners of statistics. I am a service provider and much of the time those who have had a bad experience with my industry will say “I tried that, it didn’t work”. Yes, but you tried a poorly executed version…not sure that counts. Same here. You can’t say statistics are bad. They can be misrepresented or misused…but the numbers are such as they are at the time.

This was very impactful to me “expressed with completeness using statistical tools like sample size, probabilities, and likelihoods.” Using and understanding these tools and their interplay is valuable in forming an opinion.

Thank you!