How 2 lie with Zombie Statistics
How 2 rob a bank
English - January 03, 2021 17:09 - 38 minutes - 36 MB - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingMathematics Science Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Zoey and Bia discuss what zombie statistics are, why it's hard for zombie statistics and facts to die and whether it is right for a wrong statistic to be cited even if it produces positive effects.
Introduction
00:15 – Lies, damned lies and statistics
01:48 – Zombie statistics definition
Quiz and answers discussion
03:52 – Zombie stats or facts quiz
05:45 – Zombie stat/fact #1 – One in four people will suffer from mental illness/ depression in their lifetime
09:18 – Zombie stat/fact #2 – You need to drink eight glasses of water a day
12:18 – Zombie stat/fact #3 – People use only 10% of their brains
14:22 – Zombie stat/fact #4 – You need to walk 10,000 steps a day to stay healthy and fit
19:05 – Zombie stat/fact # 5 – The ban of plastic straws will massively reduce plastic waste in our oceans
General discussion
26:26 – Discussion on why it's hard for zombie stats/facts to "die" - beneficial information to people/companies and confirmation bias?
30:37 – Is it okay for a statistic to be wrong even if it has a positive effect?
33:45 – Making sure you understand the entire story of the statistic and taking it with a pinch of salt
35:29 – Conclusions
Useful links:
Adult Psychiatric Morbidity in England - 2007, Results of a household survey https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/adult-psychiatric-morbidity-survey/adult-psychiatric-morbidity-in-england-2007-results-of-a-household-survey
Medical Myths" https://www.bmj.com/content/335/7633/1288
Dirty Streaming: The Internet's Big Secret https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p083tb16/dirty-streaming-the-internets-big-secret