Statistics

I am actually taking statistics now so I have a new understanding of the subject matter.  I found out all kinds of interesting things.  Like for instance politicians how the skew data to make it appear any way they want it to look.  How they say they have reduced X% of the unemployment or reduced taxes, or reduced inflation.  They show charts that skew the data.  It looks good on paper however it is not a true representation.  Or they say that our country's GDP is one thing but they do not use Real GDP figures.  Or people use surveys and the sample is not a good samples of the population.  The size is not big enough, or they have one gender, or age group representing a large population of ages outside of that specific sample age group.  Plus things have to be scientific and go through a double blind study.  If the data can not be reproduced then it is not sound.  Many of the stuff we purchase is representative of an independent study, which really means that some company paid some lab to produce the results that they want.  My recommendation is do not believe anything that says independent studies and be cautious what and expert witness has to say.  There are many variables to everything, and all things should be considered when making decisions.