Question

In Damned Lies and Statistics, the author argues that the public tends to be receptive to claims about new social problems because

a. people are gullible and generally too lazy to keep up with current events

b.	people trust the government too much

c.	official statistics are often reliable

d.	people treat statistics as facts and are not good at reading numbers

Answer 1

According to Damned Lies and Statistics, the general public tends to be receptive to claims about new social problems,and rarely thinks critically about social problems statistics. Recall that the media like to report statistics because numbers seem to be factual, little nuggets of truth. The public tends to agree; we usually treat statistics as facts. Hence answer (D) People treat statistics as facts and are not good at reading numbers is the right answer.