The Subtle Science of Misleading with Statistics by Dave McAllister

"Lies, damned lies and statistics." While true, only statistics allow you to lie to yourself.

Let's explore how statistics can sometimes trick us into believing something untrue. This isn't always done intentionally; we mislead ourselves without realizing it. We'll look at how focusing solely on recent events, choosing specific data to look at, and making assumptions about the size of a group can lead us to the wrong conclusions. We'll show examples of how graphs and numbers can be used in misleading ways. The presentation aims to teach you to look at statistics more critically, understand their limits, and avoid fooling yourself with numbers.

Dave McAllister
NGINX

Recorded at Jfokus 2025 in Stockholm 5th of february
http://www.jfokus.se