DID you realise that schools in the US have been getting steadily safer, despite terrible incidents such as the massacre at Columbine? That statistic – that schools are getting safer – may feel like a comfort blanket of truth in an uncertain world. In More Damned Lies and Statistics Joel Best breaks the bad news that this is false comfort. He has bad news for anyone who wants to misuse statistics, especially in the sphere of public policy, often a stronghold of bafflement.
Statistics are social constructions and the problems begin when people decide what is important enough to measure. As Best…
