How to Read Numbers: A Guide to Statistics in the News (and Knowing When to Trust Them)

Every day, most of us will read or watch something in the news that is based on statistics in some way. Sometimes it'll be obvious - 'X people develop cancer every year' - and sometimes less obvious - 'How smartphones destroyed a generation'. Statistics are an immensely powerful tool for understanding the world, but in the wrong hands they can be dangerous. Introducing you to the common mistakes that journalists make and the tricks they sometimes deploy, HOW TO READ NUMBERS is a vital guide that will help you understand when and how to trust the numbers in the news - and, just as importantly, when not to.

About the Author :
Tom Chivers is a science writer and author. He was given Royal Statistical Society 'Statistical Excellence in Journalism' awards in 2018 and 2020, and was declared the Science Writer of the Year by the Association of British Science Writers in 2021. His two previous books are The Rationalist's Guide to the Galaxy and How to Read Numbers (with David Chivers). DAVID CHIVERS is an assistant professor of economics at Durham University. Before this post he was a lecturer at the University of Oxford and completed his PhD at the University of Manchester, funded by the ESRC. He has published in academic journals such as Review of Economic Dynamics, Economic Theory and Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organisation. His research interests involve topics relating to inequality, growth and development. DAVID CHIVERS is an assistant professor of economics at Durham University. Before this post he was a lecturer at the University of Oxford and completed his PhD at the University of Manchester, funded by the ESRC. He has published in academic journals such as Review of Economic Dynamics, Economic Theory and Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organisation. His research interests involve topics relating to inequality, growth and development. Tom Chivers is a science writer and author. He was given Royal Statistical Society 'Statistical Excellence in Journalism' awards in 2018 and 2020, and was declared the Science Writer of the Year by the Association of British Science Writers in 2021. His two previous books are The Rationalist's Guide to the Galaxy and How to Read Numbers (with David Chivers).

Review :
A charming, practical and insightful guide. You might not even notice how much you're learning - you'll be too busy having fun A vital plea to take statistics more seriously - the prose being as clear and elegant as the numbers Reading this book is strongly correlated with not looking stupid. Highly recommended An excellent guide to everyday statistics . . . the authors do a splendid job of stringing words together so smartly that even difficult concepts are explained and so understood with ease. [A] timely and lively book Wonderfully written - incredibly readable. It should be made compulsory reading for everyone before they leave school An erudite, enlightening guide to the numbers we read in the news - and why they are so often wrong. The authors make sense of dense material and offer engrossing insights into sampling bias, statistical significance and the dangers of believing the casual language used in newspapers [A] fascinating, easy-to-read explanation of how to interpret numbers in the news . . . their enlightening book provides us with the tools to spot when we're being led astray An absolute lifesaver . . . Breezy, easy to read, funny and loaded with useful information A great combination of important and accessible Brilliant . . . part of the joy of How to Read Numbers is how light and fun it is. At the end of the process, you'll be better equipped to understand what it means when a glass of red wine can both increase and decrease your chances of getting cancer, how many portions of fruit and veg you need to eat each day, and any number of stories about numbers you might read or hear