Propaganda in Numbers
misleading Gerber Products Company advertisement
In a report by the Federal Trade Commission in 1997, the government pointed out some of the frequent claims made by companies with the intent of misleading the consumer---YOU. Being able to make an educated, informed choice as a consumer is "the lifeblood of a market economy." Advertising can help consumers make purchase decisions based on their individual preferences.
When advertising is "deceptive or fraudulent, or artificially restricted, consumers' ability to make appropriate purchase decisions suffers." One of the roles of the Federal Trade Commission is to monitor these deceptive advertisements.
In the advertisement to the left, the claim is that 4 out of 5 pediatricians (or 80%) recommend Gerber baby food products. However, the FTC report found that although the manufacturer had done a survey of nearly 600 pediatricians, only 16 percent of pediatricians who recommended baby food to their patients recommended Gerber's baby food. That was only 12 percent of all the pediatricians surveyed, not the 80 percent claimed by the ad (http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/starek/koreaweb.shtm).
Examples of Ways Numbers Can Be Manipulated
We Do:
1. "19 out of 20 football fans in the state of Alabama are 'Bama fans."
Does it matter if a woman has conducted this poll and received results by:
a. asking 20 people or asking 2,000 people?
b. asking people living on the campus of University of Alabama OR asking people living in various places across the state?
When you see numbers listed, ask yourself these types of questions along with discovering the source of the survey. Who did the survey? Who is paying for it?
taken from MIchelle Tuesday http://www.helium.com/items/1364782-statistics
2. "U.S. auto companies pay their workers $76. an hour."
How can this be possible?
Do auto workers really make about $3,000 per week?
If auto workers really look at their weekly paystubs of $1,100, how can the previous statistic be stated and be true?
In this case, the $76 figure represents the total hourly labor cost for the auto company.
If you add up all of the money the auto company spends in the category of labor – wages, benefits, supplemental pay to laid-off employees, retirement benefits
to retired employees and disability pay to injured workers – and then divide that figure by the number of hours workers actually put in as labor. In short, $76 is an
accurate reflection of the company’s hourly labor costs, but no worker pocketed $76 an hour, even when you add in the benefits.
The fact is that legacy costs – retirement benefits and health insurance costs paid to retired workers– deceivingly increased the hourly labor figure. By using the
distortion, many politicians allowed the opposition to point out the misused statistic and dismiss the reasonable argument that union auto workers make about
50 percent more than those working for foreign auto makers.
~taken from http://www.onlinesociologydegree.net/2011/02/10/how-politicians-misuse-statistics/
3. "There are 9247 police officers hired by the city of Los Angeles. Anchorage, Alaska, on the other hand, only has 522 police officers. It is safer to live in Los
Angeles than Anchorage."
Numbers must be considered in context. Don't just look at raw numbers. Be sure to take into account other statistics like population differences between LA and
Anchorage. Raw numbers do not tell the entire story.
~numbers taken from http://www.laalmanac.com/crime/cr70.htm
and http://www.muni.org/Departments/budget/operatingBudget/2011%20Apv%20GGOB/Police%20A.pdf
4. Graphs are shown with different axis numbers or with a limited view of to give a skewed perspective.
Both of these show the same statistics, bu tthe graphs show vividly different perspectives.
When advertising is "deceptive or fraudulent, or artificially restricted, consumers' ability to make appropriate purchase decisions suffers." One of the roles of the Federal Trade Commission is to monitor these deceptive advertisements.
In the advertisement to the left, the claim is that 4 out of 5 pediatricians (or 80%) recommend Gerber baby food products. However, the FTC report found that although the manufacturer had done a survey of nearly 600 pediatricians, only 16 percent of pediatricians who recommended baby food to their patients recommended Gerber's baby food. That was only 12 percent of all the pediatricians surveyed, not the 80 percent claimed by the ad (http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/starek/koreaweb.shtm).
Examples of Ways Numbers Can Be Manipulated
We Do:
1. "19 out of 20 football fans in the state of Alabama are 'Bama fans."
Does it matter if a woman has conducted this poll and received results by:
a. asking 20 people or asking 2,000 people?
b. asking people living on the campus of University of Alabama OR asking people living in various places across the state?
When you see numbers listed, ask yourself these types of questions along with discovering the source of the survey. Who did the survey? Who is paying for it?
taken from MIchelle Tuesday http://www.helium.com/items/1364782-statistics
2. "U.S. auto companies pay their workers $76. an hour."
How can this be possible?
Do auto workers really make about $3,000 per week?
If auto workers really look at their weekly paystubs of $1,100, how can the previous statistic be stated and be true?
In this case, the $76 figure represents the total hourly labor cost for the auto company.
If you add up all of the money the auto company spends in the category of labor – wages, benefits, supplemental pay to laid-off employees, retirement benefits
to retired employees and disability pay to injured workers – and then divide that figure by the number of hours workers actually put in as labor. In short, $76 is an
accurate reflection of the company’s hourly labor costs, but no worker pocketed $76 an hour, even when you add in the benefits.
The fact is that legacy costs – retirement benefits and health insurance costs paid to retired workers– deceivingly increased the hourly labor figure. By using the
distortion, many politicians allowed the opposition to point out the misused statistic and dismiss the reasonable argument that union auto workers make about
50 percent more than those working for foreign auto makers.
~taken from http://www.onlinesociologydegree.net/2011/02/10/how-politicians-misuse-statistics/
3. "There are 9247 police officers hired by the city of Los Angeles. Anchorage, Alaska, on the other hand, only has 522 police officers. It is safer to live in Los
Angeles than Anchorage."
Numbers must be considered in context. Don't just look at raw numbers. Be sure to take into account other statistics like population differences between LA and
Anchorage. Raw numbers do not tell the entire story.
~numbers taken from http://www.laalmanac.com/crime/cr70.htm
and http://www.muni.org/Departments/budget/operatingBudget/2011%20Apv%20GGOB/Police%20A.pdf
4. Graphs are shown with different axis numbers or with a limited view of to give a skewed perspective.
Both of these show the same statistics, bu tthe graphs show vividly different perspectives.
You Do:
Use your calculator (if needed) to calculate the following.
1. "15 children were abducted in the past month." and "There is a one in a million chance of a child being abducted."
Can both be true? How?
2. Your mom's friend has told her that she can make a lot more money if she moves to San Francisco from Waco. She will make $2.00 more per hour."
Does this number sound as good as it sounds? Why? Why not?
3. If you heard on the news these two facts, which is true?
In 1998 the mean annual income for retired families was $32,600.
In 1998 the median annual income for retired families was $19,300.
How could both of these be true? Show with some made-up numbers on your own paper how both could be used by differing political parties and both
could be true.
4. The evening news tells you that workers in Pakistani sweatshops work in the heat on dirt floors and make only $1.00/day.
How does this make you feel? Why? What other information are we not getting with this statistic?
5. Ten cars go past my house in one hour. The next hour, only 9 cars pass.
There are four different percentages I can choose to represent this:
a. There has been a ________%__ drop in the cars passing my house. (This describes the change from hour one to hour two)
b. The amount of cars passing my house is __________%__ of what it used to be. (This describes hour two in terms of percentage of hour one)
c. The amount of cars passing in the first hour was _________%_ of the amount in the second hour. (This describes hour one in terms of percentage of hour two)
d. The first hour had _________%__ more than the second hour. (This describes the difference from hour two to hour one)
All describe the same numbers of cars with a different perspective. They leave the reader with different impressions.
~taken from Steve Bain http://www.helium.com/items/1344433-statistics-media-media-manipulation
6. "At least one out of every 5 Americans suffers from allergies."
What should you be asking yourself?
7. Look at the following websites' statistics. Compare the statistics. Note the website's origin (in the web address).
Would this affect statistics and purpose of reporting as they do?
a. Texas Department of Public Safety's annual report 2009
b. List of statistics from an organization named Disaster Center.com: Texas Crime Rates 1960-2009
Pick statistics from these sites and make 2 graphs.
Make one graph with the purpose of making crime look worse. Make the other graph with the purpose of making crime look better.
You may change the numbers of the X- and Y- axis lines. You may manipulate years to make it look better/worse. See above example to figure out how.
8. The following are statistics regarding a new ballpark being built. Which of these would sound the best to the public? Which of these would sound the worst
to the public? Put into a chart of positives and negatives.
•The ballpark would be paid for by raising the sales tax from 8.2 percent to 8.3 percent during a 20-year period.
•The sales tax increase is one-tenth of 1 percent.
•This increase represents an average of $7.50 per person per year---about the price of a movie ticket.
•This tax increase represents $750 per five-person family over the twenty-year period of the tax.
•This is a $250 million tax increase for the residents of the Seattle area.
Considering how statistics are used to mislead, what can you do?
• Consider who is quoting the statistic and what they have to gain. This is true whether the statistic is about how many children prefer coco-coated rice puffs for dinner or how much a bill will add to your taxes.
• Educate yourself about the basics of statistics so that you understand the differences between mean, median and mode, and how the data for the statistic was collected.
• Go directly to the source. With even a basic understanding of how to calculate statistics, you can read summaries of data and understand exactly how the statistic you heard fits the facts.
• Check what the other side is saying. Any time a politician or media source reports a statistic, there’s a good chance that people who oppose the policy or politician will try to give you other statistics.
~taken from http://www.onlinesociologydegree.net/2011/02/10/how-politicians-misuse-statistics/
Powerpoint presentation of some of this information: Propaganda in Numbers
1. "15 children were abducted in the past month." and "There is a one in a million chance of a child being abducted."
Can both be true? How?
2. Your mom's friend has told her that she can make a lot more money if she moves to San Francisco from Waco. She will make $2.00 more per hour."
Does this number sound as good as it sounds? Why? Why not?
3. If you heard on the news these two facts, which is true?
In 1998 the mean annual income for retired families was $32,600.
In 1998 the median annual income for retired families was $19,300.
How could both of these be true? Show with some made-up numbers on your own paper how both could be used by differing political parties and both
could be true.
4. The evening news tells you that workers in Pakistani sweatshops work in the heat on dirt floors and make only $1.00/day.
How does this make you feel? Why? What other information are we not getting with this statistic?
5. Ten cars go past my house in one hour. The next hour, only 9 cars pass.
There are four different percentages I can choose to represent this:
a. There has been a ________%__ drop in the cars passing my house. (This describes the change from hour one to hour two)
b. The amount of cars passing my house is __________%__ of what it used to be. (This describes hour two in terms of percentage of hour one)
c. The amount of cars passing in the first hour was _________%_ of the amount in the second hour. (This describes hour one in terms of percentage of hour two)
d. The first hour had _________%__ more than the second hour. (This describes the difference from hour two to hour one)
All describe the same numbers of cars with a different perspective. They leave the reader with different impressions.
~taken from Steve Bain http://www.helium.com/items/1344433-statistics-media-media-manipulation
6. "At least one out of every 5 Americans suffers from allergies."
What should you be asking yourself?
7. Look at the following websites' statistics. Compare the statistics. Note the website's origin (in the web address).
Would this affect statistics and purpose of reporting as they do?
a. Texas Department of Public Safety's annual report 2009
b. List of statistics from an organization named Disaster Center.com: Texas Crime Rates 1960-2009
Pick statistics from these sites and make 2 graphs.
Make one graph with the purpose of making crime look worse. Make the other graph with the purpose of making crime look better.
You may change the numbers of the X- and Y- axis lines. You may manipulate years to make it look better/worse. See above example to figure out how.
8. The following are statistics regarding a new ballpark being built. Which of these would sound the best to the public? Which of these would sound the worst
to the public? Put into a chart of positives and negatives.
•The ballpark would be paid for by raising the sales tax from 8.2 percent to 8.3 percent during a 20-year period.
•The sales tax increase is one-tenth of 1 percent.
•This increase represents an average of $7.50 per person per year---about the price of a movie ticket.
•This tax increase represents $750 per five-person family over the twenty-year period of the tax.
•This is a $250 million tax increase for the residents of the Seattle area.
Considering how statistics are used to mislead, what can you do?
• Consider who is quoting the statistic and what they have to gain. This is true whether the statistic is about how many children prefer coco-coated rice puffs for dinner or how much a bill will add to your taxes.
• Educate yourself about the basics of statistics so that you understand the differences between mean, median and mode, and how the data for the statistic was collected.
• Go directly to the source. With even a basic understanding of how to calculate statistics, you can read summaries of data and understand exactly how the statistic you heard fits the facts.
• Check what the other side is saying. Any time a politician or media source reports a statistic, there’s a good chance that people who oppose the policy or politician will try to give you other statistics.
~taken from http://www.onlinesociologydegree.net/2011/02/10/how-politicians-misuse-statistics/
Powerpoint presentation of some of this information: Propaganda in Numbers