The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics

by Tim Harford

In a bird’s-eye view you tend to survey everything . . . In a worm’s-eye view you don’t have that advantage of looking at everything. You just see whatever is close to you. • Muhammad Yunus[1]

Statistical metrics can show us facts and trends that would be impossible to see in any other way, but often they’re used as a substitute for relevant experience, by managers or politicians without specific expertise or a close-up view.