[TowerTalk] was Divining rods, now statistics

[Frosty]

No Peter,
I under stand how it all works. But I have to often seen Statistics used to 
misrepresent the facts.
As a school teacher who taught electronics I know that if the correct 
information is used it is a great thing.
But often it is not done with the correct information but with what someone 
wants to use to give
what they want to present to folks. So It can go both ways. Good and Bad.

Charles F. Frost
Frosty K5LBU
frosty1 at pdq.net

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Wollan" <peter.wollan at gmail.com>
To: <towertalk at contesting.com>; <frosty1 at pdq.net>
Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2010 9:10 AM
Subject: Re: was Divining rods, now statistics


> From Charles Frost:  "Statistics is also calculated guess work. You
> can make statistics give any
> answer you want."
>
> Sorry, this really bugs me.  Would you say that engineering can give
> any answer you want?  By making assumptions, carefully selecting data,
> and occasionally lying a bit, you can make an engineering calculation
> that leads to any desired conclusion.  Statistics is the same.  If
> done honestly, both engineering and statistics are tools to find out
> how the world works.
>
> Peter W0LLN


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