Don’t Trust Them, They Could Be Lying with Data
You shouldn’t trust them blindly because they can spout some statistics
With the rise of fake news, data is often hailed as the antidote.
If we can find a way to fact-check everything, if we can find statistics to prove or disprove a certain claim, we would be able to fight off the issue of fake news.
And indeed, data is treated with extreme reverence. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for research analysts is expected to grow 25 percent between 2020 and 2030. All over the world, data storytelling as a skill is becoming extremely sought after.
However, while using data helps to make your claim more concrete (especially if the opposing claim is made using ‘intuition’ and ‘anecdotal experiences’), it doesn’t mean that data is infallible.
In fact, people can lie with data.
Whether it is unintentional lying (through unconscious biases or limited data collection methods) or intentional lying (limiting datasets, ignoring entire demographics, and making misleading charts and graphs), not every claim can be trusted simply because of data backing the claim up.
“Economist Ronald Coase said that if you torture the data long enough, it will confess to…
