The amount of people in the world today that do not understand how to interpret basic data and statistics is scary.
Knowing how to tell if a data set you're presented with is trustable is something everyone should know.
Knowing the difference between a sample and the population. Knowing the different kinds of samples. Knowing how to tell if a sample is representative of the population, and unbiased.
How was the data collected? How might that effect the sample? How might that cause bias in the results?
How is the data being distributed? Is the distribution fair and equal? How might that bias the results?
What is the data trying to tell you? How is it trying to tell you that? How do you check that the statistics you're being presented in an article, in an ad, on the news, are good reputable statistics?
What's the difference between the mean, median, and mode? How might being told the mean sway a statistic one way, while the median or mode may sway it another way?
What is the range of a data set? What is an outlier? How do you spot one? How might that effect the results?
What kind of graph are you looking at? What is that kind of graph used for? What is it trying to tell you? Is it being used properly? Is it well constructed? Do the visuals match the information on it?
How might two different sources present the same statistics differently? How might each source try to bias statistics to push their own beliefs?
People come across statistics everyday, and those influence how they view the world. How they feel about something, or what they think about it. It effects the decisions they make, it effects how they vote.
People need to know how to properly interpret data, and how to tell if a statistic they are presented with is trustworthy and unbiased.
People need to know the basics of data and statistics.
