#dodgy statistics

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African American (Dodgy Statistics #38)

African American (Dodgy Statistics #38)

The term African American is racist.  It implies black Americans are less American than white Americans. There has been a lot of news in recent weeks on how black people are treated in America and in the UK. Whenever the news story is focussed in the US the term African American is used to denote a black person. I think this term is racist as it implies that black Americans are less American than…

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Middle class nudity (Dodgy Statistics #37)

Middle class nudity (Dodgy Statistics #37)

Middle class nudity – When female models are topless in working class newspapers it is called pornography but in middle class newspapers it is called art. There was a campaign for many years to remove topless models from page 3 of The Sun newspaper, and similar publications. The reason given was that Page 3 was pornography and the models promoted a negative stereotype of women. The campaign was…

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Halifax Top Cat (Dodgy Statistics #36)

Halifax Top Cat (Dodgy Statistics #36)

Halifax Top Cat – Halifax have decided to choose a cartoon swindler as their mascot.  Probably not the best choice given the recent history of banks. The current Halifax banking advert shows Top Cat applying for a mortgage. Top Cat is a famous cartoon swindler who runs countless get-rich-quick schemes whilst evading the police. Halifax is one of the banks owned by the Lloyds Banking Group. The…

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Myers-Briggs personality test (Dodgy Statistics #35)

Myers-Briggs personality test (Dodgy Statistics #35)

The Myers-Briggs Personality test is silly.  It says that the whole spectrum of personality traits can be easily captured in 16 simple categories. The Myers-Briggs personality test categorises people into one of 16 options. The 16 options are determined by four categories. You can either be extroverted or introverted, a pragmatist or a dreamer, logical or emotional, or planned or spontaneous. The…

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PMI survey (Dodgy Statistics #34)

PMI survey (Dodgy Statistics #34)

The BBC reported that the PMI survey showed a dramatic drop in the economy.  The survey only looks at the direction of activity and ignores the magnitude. In yesterday’s (22nd July) BBC News reported that Brexit had caused a dramatic drop in the UK economy, according to the PMI survey. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36864273 There was a large drop in the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) survey…

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Pensions fairness (Dodgy Statistics #33)

Pensions fairness (Dodgy Statistics #33)

Pensions fairness- Channel 4’s pensions rip-off programme ignores the fact that final salary schemes are ridiculously generous In Monday’s edition of Dispatches on Channel 4 a pensioner’s benefits had fallen into the Pensions Protection Fund. As a result his pension was half of what he had been promised by his company. For this reason Dispatches ran a segment on rip-off pensions. However if you…

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Sun exposure (Dodgy Statistics #30)

Sun exposure (Dodgy Statistics #30)

Two scientists disagreeing on the level of sun exposure is not a balanced argument as it ignores the weight of evidence A recent BBC Two documentary, “Trust Me I’m A Doctor”, discusses how much sun exposure is appropriate for a person. Michael Mosley  interviews one scientist who says we should severely limit our exposure to the sun.  He then interviews another who says that we should get as much…

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Online estate agents (Dodgy Statistics #29)

Online estate agents (Dodgy Statistics #29)

Online estate agents are a big step in the right direction but be careful with the fine print. Hello Online estate agents have started to make inroads into the housing market.  This article looks at a couple of the bigger names and advises the reader to take care before deciding. Traditional estate agents A traditional estate agent will sell your house for a percentage of the proceeds. Typically…

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