My View of Statistics

The Swedish Media has been full of Statistics. I saw one Swedish Society Expert on TV a few weeks ago and he said that Swedes have a learned trust of statistics and have a history of using statistic in their arguments knowing that people here will believe them after showing proof in a statistic.

I have experienced this first hand in my daily living here and seen it in forums in which Swedes are involved. One will hear comments like, "What are the statistics or where did you find that statistic?" Another standard comment is, "Show, me the proof." As if an expert opinion is proof of anything or a statistic comes from God and is carved into stone as The Ten Commandments given to Moses. Statistics are given daily in the Media by Journalists. Here in Sweden there are several taboo subjects and if a Journalist even prints an article that shows statistics that go agains't the party line, they will not have a job. The EU has passed several laws the last few years to silence the voices of those who appose the EU agenda.

Some statistics in the News this week:

Sweden is the Third best Country to live in based on an article from Newsweek Magazine. Finland ranked number one and Switzerland, number two.

Sweden is ranked number one in Europe in the number of rapes per 100,000 citizens and number two in the world. There are 53 rapes per 100,000 people in the population. These were UN statistics.

A Gallop Poll of 350,000 people in 148 Countries ranked Sweden as the most attractive to move to within the EU and number eight in the world. Probably why so many are arriving hidden in the back of trucks shipping goods to Sweden. Singapore was ranked number one, New Zealand number two, and Saudi Arabia number three.

I haven't been a believer in statistics for several years. How can one poll people worldwide to give an opinion of a nation far away based on what I call PR News.  How can one honestly believe polls paid for?  Do you really think that the Poll agency will publish results contrary to the party line of the ones paying for the poll?  Do you really think that Government Agencies or Bureaus will release figures that put there employers in a bad light?  It can be also very easy to manipulate figures by carefully choosing you sample group in your survey.

Statistics change from day to day. The unemployment figures are going up and down weekly even though unemployment has been increasing weekly. I have read in Swedish newspapers that only a small percent of rape victims go to the Police and end up not being included in the holy statistics or shall I say, the not so holy statistics due to the modern lack of work ethic in government and business.

So, instead of having a blind faith in statistics it may be better to take them with a grain of salt or in my opinon, a truckload of salt.