The Art of Statistics: How to Learn From Data

Abstract

Every day we hear about scientific discoveries from news coverage of science. In this process, scientific discoveries need to be translated into common language so that non-experts can understand scientific discoveries easily and accurately. Statistics plays an important mediating role in this communication. If consumers of scientific discoveries have a working knowledge of statistics and producers follow good statistical guidelines, both sides will be better off. Citizens support public funding of scientific studies and scientists work for breakthrough researches in their fields. However, if consumers are statistically illiterate and producers do not share appropriate statistical guidelines, the coverage of scientific discoveries will be full of hyperbole, misinformation, and disinformation.