S TATISTICS AND F ACTS Bridget Lam

W HAT ARE S TATISTICS ? Pieces of information presented in numerical form Create feeling of a thorough, legitimate presentation Concrete Information, not opinion based

S TATISTIC G UIDELINES Present statistics along with examples “Average high school student has seen 18,000 hours of television…” vs. “That is 750 solid days of TV- over two years.” Use a reliable source Keep them simple and in direct correlation with your topic Avoid using many numbers consecutively. Utilize visual aids Graphs and charts Make sure statistics are portraying your point of view USE RECENT INFORMATION!

I MPROVING S TATISTIC P RESENTATION : O RIGINAL V ERSION According to a 2005 survey of 1,000 people ages 15 and 17: (56 percent) of young drivers use cell phones while driving 69 percent said that they speed to keep up with traffic 64 percent said they speed to go through a yellow light. 47 percent said that passengers sometimes distract them. 31 percent of teen drivers killed in 2006 had been drinking, according to NHTSA. 25 percent had a blood alcohol concentration of.08 or higher. Nearly half said they believed that most crashes involving teens result from drunk driving.

I MPROVING S TATISTIC P RESENTATION : N EW V ERSION Information Provided by Allstate Foundation

W HAT IS A FACT ? Statements that can be proven true. Chapter Example: Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band was a breakthrough in rock music. [claim] It was the first rock album that had a unified set of songs with a common theme. [fact] It cost $100,000 to produce, far more than the cost of any album up to that time. [fact] Purpose: Support claims A claim is NOT necessarily a fact.

D IFFERENCES B ETWEEN S TATISTICS AND F ACTS Facts: Proven to be TRUE Unbiased Statistics: Can mislead people (spin for political poles) Issues in the testing methods Leaving out variables Testing certain groups of people to get desired results

Q UIZ ! 1. T/F: Statistics can be considered fact in all situations. 2. Name one guideline to ensure a solid statistic. 3. What is the difference between claims and facts?