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That data analyst at the coffee shop who called out fake polling numbers just by looking at the sample size
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richard_young802mo ago
And that's exactly why real data literacy is so rare these days, right?
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johnson.river2mo ago
@henryt18 hit it right on the head with that "nobody checks the basics" line. I saw something similar a few years back where a local paper ran a story claiming 80% of residents supported a new parking garage, but the fine print said they only polled folks leaving a city council meeting. That's not a sample, that's a choir. And you're dead on about that sneaker survey too, 20 people on a Tuesday morning tells you nothing about the whole town. The analyst at the coffee shop probably saved that company from making a bad move based on junk data.
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henryt182mo ago
Seen stuff like this with those "quick surveys" at the mall too. Someone tried to tell me 9 out of 10 people prefer a certain brand of sneakers based on like 20 random shoppers they grabbed on a Tuesday morning. Real world numbers get messed up all the time cause nobody checks the basics. That analyst just saw what was right in front of them while everyone else was too busy believing the hype.
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