http://www.trendingupward.net/2008/10/cnn-tracking-bar-stupid/?utm_source=subscriber&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss Web analytics for higher education. Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:01:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://www.trendingupward.net/2008/10/cnn-tracking-bar-stupid/comment-page-1/#comment-244 Trending Upward | The Election and Statistics Tue, 04 Nov 2008 02:38:23 +0000 http://www.trendingupward.net/?p=721#comment-244 [...] favorite pre-election (psuedo) statistics tool? You may already know for me it’s the stupid CNN tracker bar from the debates (ugh!). Why? I hate eye candy. Pretty or cool for the sake of being pretty or [...] [...] favorite pre-election (psuedo) statistics tool? You may already know for me it’s the stupid CNN tracker bar from the debates (ugh!). Why? I hate eye candy. Pretty or cool for the sake of being pretty or [...]

]]> http://www.trendingupward.net/2008/10/cnn-tracking-bar-stupid/comment-page-1/#comment-199 Christina Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:17:45 +0000 http://www.trendingupward.net/?p=721#comment-199 I totally agree. Unfortunately, all of CNN's stats/data are this thin. It drives me crazy!! Early this year the Census Bureau published, "In 2007, 86 percent of all adults 25 and older reported they had completed at least high school and 29 percent at least a bachelor's degree." I don't want to say that the majority of the population has minimal education or that someone needs a bachelor's to understand to stats, b/c neither of those statements are entirely accurate. However, I hate it that CNN doesn't share all the details about their stats, like you mentioned in this post. It makes me wonder how many people take the data at face value? How many people are they influencing because they share one aspect of the results? It drives me crazy because it seems like they want to promote ignorance by keeping people in the dark. I went to a speechwriter's conference a couple of years ago and I'll never forget this quote, "Numbers will confess to anything." Leave out one bitty piece of information and the data can represent whatever you want it to. I wonder what lovely stats they'll use in tonight's debate? I totally agree. Unfortunately, all of CNN’s stats/data are this thin. It drives me crazy!! Early this year the Census Bureau published, “In 2007, 86 percent of all adults 25 and older reported they had completed at least high school and 29 percent at least a bachelor’s degree.” I don’t want to say that the majority of the population has minimal education or that someone needs a bachelor’s to understand to stats, b/c neither of those statements are entirely accurate. However, I hate it that CNN doesn’t share all the details about their stats, like you mentioned in this post. It makes me wonder how many people take the data at face value? How many people are they influencing because they share one aspect of the results? It drives me crazy because it seems like they want to promote ignorance by keeping people in the dark. I went to a speechwriter’s conference a couple of years ago and I’ll never forget this quote, “Numbers will confess to anything.” Leave out one bitty piece of information and the data can represent whatever you want it to. I wonder what lovely stats they’ll use in tonight’s debate?

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