Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

As you learned from your reading, or soon will, statistics can be very misleading, especially if they’re based on faulty research techniques or are otherwise biased. And just because something is reported to be statistically relevant, that’s not always the case either. For your Discussion Board # 2 I want you to do the following:

I want you to find, on-line, a statement about some statistic about something. I don’t care what the statistic is about, per se. I just want you to find something that you can use for this assignment Keep in mind that using terms like increase by 30%, double your chances or other such terminology is math-based and usable for this assignment. So that we can all go check it out for ourselves, 1) I want you to cut and paste the link to the quoted material into your Discussion Board post. I will randomly be looking up several of these referenced links to check that the stat was actually on-line where identified…

After finding a stat, hopefully one that is interesting and fun to examine, I want you to practice using your Sociological Imagination, Sociological Perspectives and your new knowledge of statistics and conducting appropriate research to examine the legitimacy of the statistic. Granted, there's no way to truly know if your analysis is accurate or not because you won't actually have the real data to observe. 2) What I want you to do instead is simply practice the art of questioning the data/statistic/information that you receive.

Much of what were are spoon fed by the media and other outlets is not based on well-researched data. And, even if the data seems reliable the explanation of the data is lacking. A good example was with my illustration of the Conflict Theory as it attempts to understand the high numbers of minorities in the criminal justice system. Statistically speaking, yes, there are more minorities incarcerated than whites. BUT, that is certainly not the whole picture. Aside from the obvious assumption that minorities are all criminals, there are other rational explanations for this phenomena. Perhaps there are more minorities in jail b/c they can’t afford good legal council, or because they are targets of increased surveillance, or because the Criminal Justice system is full biases…

So, again, find a statistic of some kind and then analyze it. 3) Tell me/us what things (besides the obvious) might also account for the statistic? 4) What does the stat really mean? Go beyond common sense answers and the obvious. Reach for a "Big Picture"understanding of what's not being included in the study. 5) Tell us what you think the researcher might be missing that could explain the data. Feel free to be pretty creative in your explanations of the data. I don't mind as long as your explanation is somewhat plausible. 6) Conversely, if the stat you find isn't easily analyzed in that manner, what I want you to do is question the reliability of the stat based on your knowledge of research. For instance, if the NRA says that guns don't kill, it seems logical that we might question that data. Explain why you might be inclined to question the stat.

To help you with this assignment, I encourage you to read the additional handout on Canvas titled Misleading Statistics. There are several examples therein of faulty reasoning that might be helpful/applicable when you’re in the position of questioning your stat.


This initial post is due and also involves two response posts to the threads posted by your peers. Please examine the posts of your peers and let them know what you think of their analysis. Did they miss anything that you personally might question about the stat they choose? 

Please remember to add an INTERESTING subject line to your thread. Don't just put Question 2. That is SO boring! Also, I again strongly encourage you to keep the conversation going. Respond to those that respond to you...


Why not make this assignment fun!  You can create a video that answers this question using the same criteria above. You may also create a video in order to reply to someone else's post.  You can use YouTube, Ponapto, or other kinds of similar video recorders.  Cell Phones work as well.  Your videos should be around 2-5 minutes in length, you can even act out a scenario!

Discussion Posts checklist:

All Sections

No unread replies.No replies.
Did I answer all the questions.
Must write each questions, then answer that one question.
Did I use at least two terms from the chapter in question.
In my post, BOLDing each term so that everyone knows which terms I used.
Is it long enough.
Did I answer each question fully in sociological terms or did I just write a sentence without referring to the knowledge in the text book.
Did I write in proper English and use proper netiquette
Did I respond to two other posts sociologically
Did I use two terms from the book for each response, once again BOLDing the terms so that everyone knows which terms I am using.
If you have any questions about this post assignment, please e-mail me directly.