Self-Defense Kit

Protect yourself from misleading numbers:

• Find the original source — read the actual study, not the headline or summary that quotes it
• Rebuild the percentage — recompute it from the raw counts and see if the math holds
• Check the sample size — results from 30 people are not the same as results from 30,000
• Be suspicious of graphs — check the axes, scales, and whether the visual matches the data
• Ask what would change your mind — this forces you to weigh evidence instead of defending a position