How 2 lie with Zombie Statistics

How 2 rob a bank

Zoey and Bia discuss what zombie statistics are, why it's hard for zombie statistics and facts to die and whether it is right for a wrong statistic to be cited even if it produces positive effects.

Introduction

• 00:15 – Lies, damned lies and statistics
• 01:48 – Zombie statistics definition

Quiz and answers discussion

• 03:52 – Zombie stats or facts quiz
• 05:45 – Zombie stat/fact #1 – One in four people will suffer from mental illness/ depression in their lifetime
• 09:18 – Zombie stat/fact #2 – You need to drink eight glasses of water a day
• 12:18 – Zombie stat/fact #3 – People use only 10% of their brains
• 14:22 – Zombie stat/fact #4 – You need to walk 10,000 steps a day to stay healthy and fit
• 19:05 – Zombie stat/fact # 5 – The ban of plastic straws will massively reduce plastic waste in our oceans

General discussion

• 26:26 – Discussion on why it's hard for zombie stats/facts to "die" - beneficial information to people/companies and confirmation bias?
• 30:37 – Is it okay for a statistic to be wrong even if it has a positive effect?
• 33:45 – Making sure you understand the entire story of the statistic and taking it with a pinch of salt
• 35:29 – Conclusions

Useful links:

• Adult Psychiatric Morbidity in England - 2007, Results of a household survey https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/adult-psychiatric-morbidity-survey/adult-psychiatric-morbidity-in-england-2007-results-of-a-household-survey
• Medical Myths" https://www.bmj.com/content/335/7633/1288
• Dirty Streaming: The Internet's Big Secret https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p083tb16/dirty-streaming-the-internets-big-secret