They say there are lies, damn lies, and statistics.Â
Wherever you discuss statistics, it’s hard to get people to understand that not all statistics are reliable, or even intelligent. Perhaps the easiest way to get people thinking that sometimes statistics can be put to bad uses is to give an extreme example.
This page gives some pretty bad stats on the use of bread. These stats are all true, but so blatantly misused that they can be an excellent starting point for discussions on how statistics should be used.
It’s worth a try, and if you don’t get your class to understand more about the usage of statistics, you’ll certainly have some fun trying.