Statistics: “The Median Isn’t the Message” by Gould

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Discussion
Conclusion
Work Cited

Introduction

It is important to note that the majority of policies and social changes are driven by specific facts which substantiate a cause for some form of transformation. The biggest social issues, such as poverty, homelessness, or disease, require statistical knowledge of their prevalence, risks, and other implications. Therefore, Stephen Jay Gould argues that statistical data should be interpreted not as hard truth but rather as an abstraction to be interpreted.

Discussion

My immediate thoughts about the article are that statistics does not translate to reality but rather human abstraction and generalization. Gould’s core message is that the only truth in life is variation itself, which implies each person’s odds cannot be completely known. The main statistical concept addressed in the reading is median and mean measurements, where the abstraction is made to identify a central trend. Gould’s personal feelings about statistics are that it can be an important clue of information, but one needs to be capable of understanding statistics technically to understand the real implications. He was able to better understand his diagnosis by assessing his unique situation and related factors, such as youth and early diagnosis (Gould 80). The central tendency fails to account for a distribution skew and variations in generalized circumstances, such as treatment, which is why looking into variations can be a better source of information. The alternative example would be median income for poverty analysis since looking into variations might provide better solutions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the article provides evidence that statistical literacy is highly important to the degree that it can save one’s life. Major social issues, such as poverty, homelessness, or disease, require statistical knowledge of their prevalence, risks, and other implications. However, people need to be aware that reality might be much more different than what central tendency depicts. Thus, analyzing variations as elements of reality and understanding the averages as abstractions can lead to better outcomes.

Work Cited

Gould, Stephen J. “The Median Isn’t the Message.” Virtual Mentor, vol. 15, no. 1, 2013, pp. 77-81.

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Statistics: “The Median Isn’t the Message” by Gould

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