Landing the Big One

Landing the Big One

Thursday, March 31, 2005

Slapping Down Some Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics

You can try to prove anything with statistics, even the dangers of drinking water. After all, "One hundred percent of the people who drink water end up dying."

While some such misuses of statistics can be funny, some are more serious and tend to mislead the unwary. In that vein, Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette discovers some statistical fault lines within an article suggesting that "Mental Disorders Are On The Rise Among Afghanistan, Iraq Veterans" in his wonderful post The Looming Doom. He does a lot of work to prove that people who serve in the military average out as average Americans, and it's worth reading.

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