Science News is a respectable magazine in the mould of New Scientist. So I was surprised to be pointed to a recent article by Tom Siegfried which comes close to blaming all the world’s woes on…we humble statisticians. I suggest that you read the article from beginning to end before returning to my comments.
It is easy to be defensive when statistics is polemically described as
a mutant form of math that has deflected science’s heart from the modes of calculation that had long served so faithfully. Science was seduced by statistics, the math rooted in the same principles that guarantee profits for Las Vegas casinos
and I will not disappoint! But ultimately a better response is to understand how others view and misinterpret statistics and sketch out an appropriate response.
