Custom «How to lie with statistics» Essay Paper Sample

Smoking is mainly associated with low performance in colleges. This is a common dogma among students who believe that by avoiding smoking there is likelihood of improving performance. Smoking is said to make the mind dull. Statistical materials can easily be cropped. For example, B follows A. Thus, B can be said to be caused by A. This is the same case with smoking which is believed to cause low grades in colleges. There is a close relationship between smoking and the degree of intelligence. A sharp inspection of the relationship between smoking and performance shows that there exists a correlation between the two. Statistically, many people believe that something exists because of something. However, this do not always hold water. The reality is that although things may have common features, they may be distinct in terms of their effects. This is the same case with smoking and intelligence. Unfortunately, people tend to be satisfied with this propaganda.

Another important consideration is that involving cause and effect. This highly depends on time and place. However, they might occur at the same time. For instance, the level of income correlates with the ownership of stock. They are dependent on each other. The more stock you are able to buy, the more the income. Similarly, some people believe that smoking and intelligence are dependent on each other.

Some students willingly indulge in alcohol drinking and avoid smoking. This is so because; they believe that alcohol will not interfere with their state of their mind. Some people go to an extent of quoting medical statistics without qualification to back their wrong understanding. Nevertheless, these are mere speculations that have no basis. Such conclusions are false and certainly unwarranted. Many students have developed the wrong believe about smoking without getting into the depth of the matter and get the evidence from qualified personnel.

Although statistics can be used to lie, it is evident that through the use of common sense, one can differentiate between speculations and facts. Evidently, smoking does not directly affect the level of intelligence. These are just misunderstanding and wrong perceptions among students.