Fibs, lies and statistics

They have been the butt of jokes since the late 1800s due to their ability to misrepresent the truth (see wiki), but to me, there is nothing better than a bunch of well researched statistics.

So my latest project, reviewing reports and preparing an overview of development and the church in Cambodia for our team, is comparable with eating icecream (which would make the internet an endlessly deep freezer).

My ecstasy is probably due to the fact that I haven’t purposefully consumed statistics for almost 10 years. By the time I’m done, I will probably have a bad case of brain freeze.

As I trawl through the latest reports on the economic status of Cambodia, I delight in discovering the new developments in research methods. Thermal graphs of global health care development are like an exciting new flavour that I’m not quite sure I understand or like.

And while statistics gain bad press for being manipulated by people with “agendas”, there is no denying that they are handy in giving a bird’s eye view of some pretty complex issues, and are powerful tools for influencing opinions and attitudes.

For example, I wonder how hardworking Cambodian parents struggling to pay for their children to go to school would feel to know that public spending on education as a percentage of national GDP ranks the country at 167 out of a total of 175 countries (see cia). This kind of information is politically powerful.

And for my Aussie friends, I’m wondering how many of us would continue to complain about Government services and spending knowing that we are one of the lowest taxed nations in the developing world, noting that northern European countries are taxed at twice the rate we are (see tai). Anyone going to join me in asking the Government to increase our taxes?

I love statistics for their power to inform and change. Unfortunately, attitudes change hard.