Statistics are tools.
Statistics without direction and velocity are useless. They’re a bag of balls, or a rack of bats, blunt as a hockey puck or flabby as an under-inflated football. Pick your own silly analogy, but remember this: having them is pointless if you don’t know how to use them.
We all handle them differently.
Among the many approaches for handling statistics, you’ll find one that makes you comfortable, but some essentials are common to all good writers: they face forward, adopt a comfortable stance, stare down the opposition, deliver with confidence, and know how to use spin.
My number is a good number.
Readers need to be told how your number compares to the range of possible numbers. The statistic by itself means nothing until you place it into context.
Sure, it’s 50%, but what does that mean?
- A full 50%
- As high as 50%
- Has improved to 50%
- Proud to announce we have achieved 50%
- At 50%, the perfect balance
My number is a bad number.
Except for experts in the field of your endeavor, your readers are at your mercy to interpret the value of the numbers you share. They count on you to guide them to an understanding of the importance of the evidence you present.
Sure, it’s 50%, but what does that mean?
- A mere 50%
- As low as 50%
- Has sunk to 50%
- Regret to admit we have achieved only 50%
- At 50%, an awful compromise
Real-life example.
Michelle Obama on her book tour is talking frankly about infertility. The news announcer putting Obama’s miscarriage and subsequent worries into context shared these facts:
- Approximately 10% of American women between 18 and 45 who attempt to conceive, experience infertility to some degree.
- The percentage is higher for African-American women.
I have no idea whether those numbers are higher or lower than I should have expected, and the announcer was no help. She could have used the statistics in any of several ways to help me understand.
Find the useless sentence.
The sentences below all compare infertility for African-Americans to infertility for all Americans, but one sentence does nothing else and serves no rhetorical purpose.
MINOR IN-CLASS TASK: Find the statistically lazy sentence in the list below. Identify it by number in the Reply space, explain what’s wrong with it, and pledge to purge any sentences like it from your work.
- Modern medicine and Americans’ overall health have reduced the infertility rate to 10% for American women, though sadly the rate is higher for African-Americans.
- Shockingly, in America, the infertility rate for African-American women between 18 and 45 is higher than for women in many of the wealthiest African countries.
- The infertility rate has skyrocketed to 10% for all American women 18 to 45, even higher for African-Americans.
- 10% of American women between 18 and 45—more for African-Americans—who attempt to conceive, experience infertility to some degree.
- Though African-Americans lag behind by a few points, American women who wish to become pregnant have achieved a remarkable 90% fertility rate.
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Counterintuitive Fall 2022 
Yep. Simple as that. 🙂
BRAVO!
BRAVO
BRAVO
BRAVO
BRAVO
Number 4 – Is the 10% good or bad? It doesn’t give the readers an understanding for 10% being desired or not desired.
4
The statistically lazy sentence is sentence 4. It doesn’t explain if the statistic is a good thing or a bad thing. I pledge to purge any sentence like this from my work.
4. It is very vague and only mentions the percentage without context of whether that is positive or negative.
4. There is no indication of whether the 10% is good or bad/high or low.
4. is the sentence that needs more clarification. Is the 10% a good or bad percentage? Is that a normal number of infertility, or is that number high?
4- there is no context in the sentence telling us whether 10% is good or bad.
To fix it you could even just put “Sadly” in the beginning to give some sort of notion to how we should feel about the percentage.
4. 10% of American women between 18 and 45—more for African-Americans—who attempt to conceive, experience infertility to some degree.
The 10% in this example does not explain if it is a high number or a low number
I believe the following sentence is a lazy sentence: ” Though African-Americans lag behind by a few points, American women who wish to become pregnant have achieved a remarkable 90% fertility rate.”
I believe this is the case because we don’t know how many wish to become pregnant whether we know how many American women there are that want to become pregnant. We can search up how many American women and even African American women but not how many want to be come pregnant.
apparently it was number 4 because it doesn’t say something that indicates good or bad as 5 does when it says lag behind
I think it’s #4 because it isn’t very concise.
10% of American women between 18 and 45—more for African-Americans—who attempt to conceive, experience infertility to some degree.
I chose this because they do explain what “experience infertility to some degree” really meant.
4- there is no context about the percentages at all.
Number 2- what is the statistic here, they do not go into detail only compare and contrast between African- American women and African women who live in countries in Africa.
Sentence 4 does not put the numbers into context with the author’s argument.
4 – there is no context to the statistic so it doesn’t provide anything helpful to the reader
4. The sentence doesn’t tell you if it’s a positive or negative reason to be at 10%. We don’t know if they are celebrating getting it down to 10, or if it’s sad that the percentage is that high.
I would say it is sentence #4. It gives no context of the 10% usage.
Number four poses to be the weakest link out of the others.
2- Does not specify how high or give readers a clear understanding of the seriousness of the situation or how it has impacted.
4- Does not specify the percentage of African American women who experience fertility which does not provide readers with a clear understanding.
I chose sentence 4 and whats wrong with it is that its terrible with explaining the statistics of the “10% ”. It gives no information after labeling 10% of American women between 18-45.
Number 4’s statistic does not give me a clear understanding of the point the author is trying to make.