1. SOSC 111 - Science Technology and Society Today: Lesson 26 Finish: Do Statistics Lie? December 4, 1998 Dr. Vincent Duffy - IEEM http://www- ieem.ust.hk/dfaculty/duffy/111 email: vduffy@ust.hk 1

2. QOTD evidence n n Q.1. How is truth determined? How is it used? How do we get the data? u from conflicting opinions/views of people u many times people with self interests u so we must be careful to check their methods 2

3. STS - Where do we get the data? n Many times the issues of STS are discussed in a public forum, sometimes in court u effects on environment u ownership of products, technologies, names n the data comes from experts in a field n what methods do these experts use? u many times u survey research is used u questionnaires 3

4. Use of the name ‘Domino’s’ n Research found that when people think of the name ‘Domino’s’ they think of sugar u Domino’s Sugar….est. many years ago n The well established u ‘Domino’s’ Sugar Company argued that the ‘Domino’s Pizza Company should not use its name n Who should use the name ‘Domino’s’? n How should this be decided? u Domino’s Sugar took Domino’s Pizza to court 4

5. n Research supporting the sugar company u was performed using subjects that: u were in cities (8 of 10) that did not have ‘Domino’s’ Pizza stores u were women at home during the day n Research supporting the pizza company u was conducted only in ‘Domino’s’ Pizza stores n Both are correct, but both have a bias 5

6. n Survey/interview research is not necessarily ‘truth’ research, but can be used to reflect u ‘state of mind’ and u what do people ‘think about something’ n When done carefully can be used effectively u how can we tell if careful? u examine F wording of questions and instructions F number of people contacted and who refused to answer F number of completed surveys/interviews F note who is represented by the sample 6

7. Q.2. What information is used to determine ‘truth’ in court trials? Who presents this information? Is there any bias? n What do we know about lawyers and evidence? n If something happens once: u it serves as a piece of evidence u Who presents the evidence?….lawyers. n Lawyers are paid by clients to ‘defend’ them u full disclosure is not required for lawyers F they do not have to disclose information that is damaging to their clients case. F a lawyer may tell truth, but not the whole truth 7

8. n There is a bias. F Yet, this is how we determine ‘truth’ in the courtroom n similar to other things we see in society u recall Florman said ‘let conflicting institutions give their views’ and let others decide u in this case …the jury decides… F in examples discussed earlier in the semester... the lawmakers or the public decide n A famous lawyer said u ‘I would not go into a courtroom lawsuit with an objective, uncommitted expert witness’ u ‘We figure out what truth we are telling and then figure out how to tell that truth’ 8

9. Q.3. In determining ‘truth’…what are differences between Law & Science? n In law if something happens once it is u evidence n Is that how science is science determined? u no, repetition and experimentation n In science and research u full disclosure is common part of ethics of research n In law u lawyer has right not to disclose adverse facts u doesn’t disclose evidence that is opposite to his claim 9

10. Q.4. What are similarities between research for courtroom and advertising? n bias of corporate sponsored research and advertising are similar n both have to ‘tell the truth, but not the whole truth’ u the statistics, especially for advertising, are not really lying, but are sometimes used to mislead the public 10