The Number Bias How Numbers Lead and Mislead Us

The Number Bias How Numbers Lead and Mislead Us
Author: Sanne Blauw
Publisher: Sceptre
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2020-07-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781529342741

Even if you don't consider yourself a numbers person, you are a numbers person. The time has come to put numbers in their place. Not high up on a pedestal, or out on the curb, but right where they belong: beside words.It is not an overstatement to say that numbers dictate the way we live our lives. They tell us how we're doing at school, how much we weigh, who might win an election and whether the economy is booming. But numbers aren't as objective as they may seem; behind every number is a story. Yet politicians, businesses and the media often forget this - or use it for their own gain.Sanne Blauw travels the world to unpick our relationship with numbers and demystify our misguided allegiance, from Florence Nightingale using statistics to petition for better conditions during the Crimean War to the manipulation of numbers by the American tobacco industry and the ambiguous figures pedalled during the EU referendum. Taking us from the everyday numbers that govern our health and wellbeing to the statistics used to wield enormous power and influence, The Number Bias counsels us to think more wisely.

The Number Bias

The Number Bias
Author: Sanne Blauw
Publisher: Sceptre
Total Pages: 176
Release: 2020-07-09
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1529342759

NOW WITH NEW PROLOGUE ABOUT DEMYSTIFYING CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS, DONALD TRUMP AND WHY STATISTICS MATTER MORE THAN EVER 'The Number Bias combines vivid storytelling with authoritative analysis to deliver a warning about the way numbers can lead us astray - if we let them.' TIM HARFORD Even if you don't consider yourself a numbers person, you are a numbers person. The time has come to put numbers in their place. Not high up on a pedestal, or out on the curb, but right where they belong: beside words. It is not an overstatement to say that numbers dictate the way we live our lives. They tell us how we're doing at school, how much we weigh, who might win an election and whether the economy is booming. But numbers aren't as objective as they may seem; behind every number is a story. Yet politicians, businesses and the media often forget this - or use it for their own gain. Sanne Blauw travels the world to unpick our relationship with numbers and demystify our misguided allegiance, from Florence Nightingale using statistics to petition for better conditions during the Crimean War to the manipulation of numbers by the American tobacco industry and the ambiguous figures peddled during the EU referendum. Taking us from the everyday numbers that govern our health and wellbeing to the statistics used to wield enormous power and influence, The Number Bias counsels us to think more wisely. 'A beautifully accessible exploration of how numbers shape our lives, and the importance of accurately interpreting the statistics we are fed.' ANGELA SAINI, author of Superior

More Numbers Every Day

More Numbers Every Day
Author: Micael Dahlen
Publisher: Hachette Books
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2023-03-14
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0306830868

Your personal number detox: learn how numbers have taken control of your life—and how to get it back. How many hours of sleep did you get last week? How many steps did you walk today? How many friends do you have? It seems everywhere you go, you’re surrounded by numbers. You depend on them, so you think they’re dependable, neutral, exact. But the truth? Numbers lie. They mislead. They’re tricky, little manipulative devils. And they’re in the process of really messing things up for you. You just don’t know it yet. Today we all strive to quantify everything: calories, likes, website traffic, and even friends. We measure ourselves against others and compare our real experiences to imagined averages. But in our rush to measure, we can lose sight of what matters. From internationally renowned economics professors Micael Dahlen and Helge Thorbjørnsen, More Numbers Every Day is a timely and powerful investigation—and warning—about the trouble numbers can bring us. With groundbreaking, empowering, sometimes frightening, and sometimes funny research, they describe how numbers creep into our heads and bodies, affecting how we think and feel. But numbers aren’t all bad. Sometimes they make us weaker, but sometimes they also make us stronger. More Numbers Every Day is more than just an exploration in to the somewhat mysterious, seemingly infinite pandemic of numbers. It’s a numerical vaccination—for a happier and more integrally healthy life.

The Language of Managerialism

The Language of Managerialism
Author: Thomas Klikauer
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2023-01-24
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3031163796

This book explains how management became Managerialism and how the language of managerialism was developed.Providing a comprehensive discussion of the managerialism-language interface, the book argues that firstly, managerialism itself has developed its distinctive language; and secondly, the two concepts of managerialism and language mutually depend upon each other. Written from the critical media studies perspective of the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory, the book reaches beyond simple business communication, illustrating how the language of managerialism is colonising the non-corporate lifeworld. The book concludes by offering fresh ideas on how to move beyond the language of managerialism.

Ethics in Econometrics

Ethics in Econometrics
Author: Philip Hans Franses
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2024-06-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1009428047

Econometricians make choices on data, models, and estimation routines. Using various examples, this book shows the consequences of choices.

Using Psychometrics in Coaching: A Practical Guide

Using Psychometrics in Coaching: A Practical Guide
Author: Ian Florance
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
Total Pages: 140
Release: 2022-05-30
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0335248888

What is the fundamental role of assessment in coaching? What makes an assessment an appropriate tool in coaching? This guide dispels the misunderstanding that assessments are simply number crunchers, showing instead how they contribute at every stage of a coaching relationship. How we use assessments continues to change rapidly to meet evolving needs, and this book will be an invaluable resource for navigating assessment training to deepen these relationships. This book: •Explains how to use formal and informal psychometrics to get the best result for your client •Uses real life examples, case studies and stories •Gives concrete and unbiased examples of a wide range of assessment approaches •Focuses on coaching clients and how assessment can help them meet their goals •Illustrates the best ways to turn theory-driven tools into practical aids to enrich coaching Written by a practitioner with experience both in developing assessments and in delivering coaching, this is an essential guide for trainee, new and experienced coaches. It explores why assessment reports are an informed voice in the coaching conversation which provide the background data for areas, such as recruitment decisions. “Deep but clear explanations, vivid case studies, occasional laugh-out-loud humour, and relentlessly practical throughout, it has every single thing you need.” Anne Scoular, Meyler Campbell “I recommend it very highly as a book you'll want to buy and consult on a regular basis.” Mary Watts, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, City, University of London, UK “Ian Florance has a great style, cutting through scientific jargon and marketing spin to make testing and assessment accessible for coaches.” Nigel Evans CPsychol, Director NEC & Chair of the European Board of Assessment (EFPA) Ian Florance has worked at NFER-NELSON, the pioneer of clinical, educational and business psychological testing. He founded Only Connect in 2002, writes for The Psychologist, and trained as a coach with Meyler Campbell. Ian also co-founded the European Test Publishers Group. He combines writing poetry and fiction with his business career.

How to Lie with Statistics

How to Lie with Statistics
Author: Darrell Huff
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2010-12-07
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0393070875

If you want to outsmart a crook, learn his tricks—Darrell Huff explains exactly how in the classic How to Lie with Statistics. From distorted graphs and biased samples to misleading averages, there are countless statistical dodges that lend cover to anyone with an ax to grind or a product to sell. With abundant examples and illustrations, Darrell Huff’s lively and engaging primer clarifies the basic principles of statistics and explains how they’re used to present information in honest and not-so-honest ways. Now even more indispensable in our data-driven world than it was when first published, How to Lie with Statistics is the book that generations of readers have relied on to keep from being fooled.

Critical management studies in South Africa

Critical management studies in South Africa
Author:
Publisher: AOSIS
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2021-11-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1776341902

This book shows how Critical Management Studies (CMS) scholarship is starting to develop a character of its own in South Africa. It attests to CMS slowly gaining momentum and acquiring an identity of its own amongst South African scholars. However, management studies in South Africa is dominated by capitalist ideology and positivist methodology. Although Interpretive scholarship has gained some momentum, it still falls within the parameters of ‘mainstream’ capitalist thinking. Scholarship outside the domain of capitalist thinking, such as critical scholarship, remains sorely underexplored. Being entrenched in the positivist tradition is arguably a major Achilles’ Heel for the progression of management as a field of inquiry. CMS presents a vehicle for alternative epistemologies to be heard in the management discourse. With its focus on power imbalances, struggles for emancipation from oppression, and distrust of capitalism, CMS provides the peripheral point of view with a voice. CMS presents a space where scholars can engage with South African realities surrounding political, cultural, social, and historical contexts and issues in management. This book is promoting CMS to the scholarly community to show that there are exciting possibilities being offered by a different approach to management scholarship. This book also forms part of a larger project of growing CMS in South Africa and is a collection of original works by academics actively working in CMS, following various methodological approaches which can be categorised into two broad methodological categories, namely, conceptual work and empirical work following an Interpretive approach.

Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data

Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data
Author: Charles Wheelan
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2013-01-07
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0393089827

A New York Times bestseller "Brilliant, funny…the best math teacher you never had." —San Francisco Chronicle Once considered tedious, the field of statistics is rapidly evolving into a discipline Hal Varian, chief economist at Google, has actually called "sexy." From batting averages and political polls to game shows and medical research, the real-world application of statistics continues to grow by leaps and bounds. How can we catch schools that cheat on standardized tests? How does Netflix know which movies you’ll like? What is causing the rising incidence of autism? As best-selling author Charles Wheelan shows us in Naked Statistics, the right data and a few well-chosen statistical tools can help us answer these questions and more. For those who slept through Stats 101, this book is a lifesaver. Wheelan strips away the arcane and technical details and focuses on the underlying intuition that drives statistical analysis. He clarifies key concepts such as inference, correlation, and regression analysis, reveals how biased or careless parties can manipulate or misrepresent data, and shows us how brilliant and creative researchers are exploiting the valuable data from natural experiments to tackle thorny questions. And in Wheelan’s trademark style, there’s not a dull page in sight. You’ll encounter clever Schlitz Beer marketers leveraging basic probability, an International Sausage Festival illuminating the tenets of the central limit theorem, and a head-scratching choice from the famous game show Let’s Make a Deal—and you’ll come away with insights each time. With the wit, accessibility, and sheer fun that turned Naked Economics into a bestseller, Wheelan defies the odds yet again by bringing another essential, formerly unglamorous discipline to life.

Proofiness

Proofiness
Author: Charles Seife
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2010-09-23
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1101443502

The bestselling author of Zero shows how mathematical misinformation pervades-and shapes-our daily lives. According to MSNBC, having a child makes you stupid. You actually lose IQ points. Good Morning America has announced that natural blondes will be extinct within two hundred years. Pundits estimated that there were more than a million demonstrators at a tea party rally in Washington, D.C., even though roughly sixty thousand were there. Numbers have peculiar powers-they can disarm skeptics, befuddle journalists, and hoodwink the public into believing almost anything. "Proofiness," as Charles Seife explains in this eye-opening book, is the art of using pure mathematics for impure ends, and he reminds readers that bad mathematics has a dark side. It is used to bring down beloved government officials and to appoint undeserving ones (both Democratic and Republican), to convict the innocent and acquit the guilty, to ruin our economy, and to fix the outcomes of future elections. This penetrating look at the intersection of math and society will appeal to readers of Freakonomics and the books of Malcolm Gladwell.