Ideas behind the numbers
The few statistical ideas that make the difference between a comparison you can trust and one that misleads, each explained in a few minutes.
- Why the average salary isn't what most people earnAsk "what does a typical person earn?" and the word average can give you two quite different answers. Here is why, and which one to trust.5-minute read
- What does "higher than 60% of people" actually mean?Percentiles are the most useful way to answer "how do I compare?", and the most often misread. Here's what they really say.5-minute read
- Why a website poll can't speak for a countryA big sample feels convincing. But who answers matters far more than how many, and people who choose to answer are not like everyone else.6-minute read
- Why official figures change after they're publishedStatistics offices often publish a first figure quickly and correct it later. That is not a mistake: it is a trade-off between speed and certainty.4-minute read
- Why country league tables need a health warningLeague tables of countries are irresistible. They are also easy to over-read. Four questions to ask before believing one country really is ahead of another.6-minute read