Just updated my reading list. As an engineer, I’ve used statistics many times and in many ways. Always with an eye toward learning something from data, or figuring out why something acted the way it did. With some trepidation, I picked up How to Lie With Statistics. I worry about being influenced badly by what the book has to offer, but Sarah assures me it will be a good read.
Engineers use statistics differently than others, watching for anomolies that may carry more information than the rest of the more consistent data. While most people instinctively throw out data that don’t conform, engineers want to know why a piece of information differs. We would hope all data play nice, but that seldom happens.
Then again, I may learn a new way to baffle people with BS!