Ideas change everything

3 ways to spot a bad statistic

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Mona Chalabi |

TEDNYC

• February 2017

Sometimes it's hard to know what statistics are worthy of trust. But we shouldn't count out stats altogether ... instead, we should learn to look behind them. In this delightful, hilarious talk, data journalist Mona Chalabi shares handy tips to help question, interpret and truly understand what the numbers are saying.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

Sometimes it's hard to know what statistics are worthy of trust. But we shouldn't count out stats altogether ... instead, we should learn to look behind them. In this delightful, hilarious talk, data journalist Mona Chalabi shares handy tips to help question, interpret and truly understand what the numbers are saying.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

This talk was presented at an official TED conference.

Read our curation guidelines.

Learn how to work with data at School of Data.

Navigate the bullshit-rich modern environment by identifying it, seeing through it and combating it with effective analysis and argument.

About the speaker

Data journalist

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Mona Chalabi tries to take the numb out of numbers. She's left with lots of "ers."

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Follow Mona Chalabi on Instagram

@monachalabi

Follow Mona Chalabi on Twitter

@MonaChalabi

Mona Chalabi at The Guardian

Check out more of Mona's work for Guardian US.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference.

Read our curation guidelines.

Learn how to work with data at School of Data.

Navigate the bullshit-rich modern environment by identifying it, seeing through it and combating it with effective analysis and argument.