🧟♀️ Zombie Statistics
Statistics is fun. Being a Stats grad is extreme fun, pun intended 🤓 hehe!!!!! Statistics is behind how we make discoveries in science and make decisions based on data.
So, What is a Statistic?
A statistic is a piece of data (quantity) from proportion of population. In short we cannot run surveys and experiment on whole population so we do it on a piece of population known as sample. A strong statistic is a powerful advocacy tool. In fact, Statistic is more than a number. Let me tell you these statistics can be dangerous than words because they are associated with math and math is associated with fact.
Narratives without statistics are blind, statistics without narratives are empty. — Steven Pinker
Let’s look at an example. There is popular stat of WASH (Water, sanitation and hygiene) sector is that 50% of hospital beds in the world are filled with people suffering from water related diseases. This is a powerful claim. It represent a strong image of world. Maybe a deciding statistic to look upon. But is it true? Where did it come from? 🙃
These stats are known as Zombie statistics. What ‼️ Yes it is.
What is Zombie Statistics ??
The statistics being used as a truth even though it has been disproved or its source cannot be traced or was evaluated wrong in the timeline they were studied. Statistics that everyone believes to be real but are not real. 🤔 🤔
Here are some famous zombie statistics we believe in or think are true !!!
- A human need to walk 10,000 steps a day to stay healthy.
🎯 This is zombie stats. We do not have evidence to prove this figure is right. Essentially, this number came as a part of marketing campaign of pedometer company in japan. A good selling strategy which eventually became a fact and people still treat this number as a benchmark. In fact a medical school did an study on the number of steps people took each day with likelihood of dying by any cause. Generally the more steps they took the better people vitals were. But they found that this case was only upto approx. 7500 steps, after that there was no difference in life expectancy as we are aware the linearity effects fades eventually.
- Ban of plastic straws will massively reduce plastic waste in our oceans.
🎯 This is a zombie statistic. The plastic straws actually make less than 1% of total plastic. This statement was made to make us aware about how single use plastic are not good, so that it becomes the first step to reduce plastic that indeed harms the oceans (that’s where it is dumped). But the ban on plastic straws could affect a oceans drastically is not and won’t be the reality.
- The 20th century was the bloodiest in history. About 95% of people agree with it.
🎯 Another zombie stat. Because it’s not true. The number people look at is the TOTAL deaths rather than the population-adjusted number. It turns out the 8th century may have the most violent in human history when the all-important size of the world’s total population at the time is taken into account. Indeed misleading. Huh!!
✔ ️Some more zombie stats
- One in four people will suffer from mental illness in their lifetime.
- People use only 10% of their brains
- Women provide 66% of work but earn only 10% of income and own only 1% of property
Why they still exist? Why don’t they die?
‣ If we analyse, some of these are/were beneficial to individuals and the companies.
‣ The reason these stats don’t die is the believable element that is attached to it and nobody dives in to do a check on the source of numbers, for instance what kind of study led to these conclusion.
‣ Some stats and facts are used because it seems legit that a statement is supported with a stats/number and human tends to take away from numbers and figures what they want to.
Shall we worry about zombie statistics? Are they bad?
Considering the zombie statistics : Human need to walk 10,000 steps a day to stay healthy. Let say it does improve people’s health, and people fall sick less. Can we argue this zombie stat is good? It’s totally debatable. Some would say it ethically incorrect to represent a wrong number that is not backed by enough experiments. Others would look at the consequence of it which is good indeed.
But these zombie stats should definitely be checked as these stats eventually support issues and movements. The wrongly reported or perceived stats are indeed not good for the community. It is indeed hard to understand what statistics are good and even how shall we evaluate it.
What’s the Takeaway 🤝
- The numbers or stats, they do lie to us if we let them.
- Zombie statistics is everywhere, in each sector. Awareness is the Key !!
- We shall strive to ensure that the statistics we put across are relevant and verifiable, with a robust methodology.
Until next time 👋🏼 👋🏼 👋🏼 👋🏼 👋🏼
PS: Folks, how do to pronounce “data” ?
- Dah-tah
- Day-tah
Let me know is comments down. ⤵️
