Statistics are lies!? Damn not!

I know this post is two weeks late and I am sorry about that. Still, better late than never.

This is a reply to Lorrie Goldstein’s column, “Stats, smoke and mirrors”, in which he rants about crime rates and Statistics Canada―the Canadian statistics agency. In my opinion, his diatribe is foolish, unfair and uninformed.

In an effort to be straightforward, this is what I will discuss:

1. If decision makers don’t know how to use statistics, then they are the problem; don’t blame statistics for that.
2. Mr. Goldstein’s “analysis” of crime rates is useless and superficial.

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