Tufta

Tufta refers to the falsification of statistics to meet the diktats of unaccountable power.

• If the power is unaccountable then why bother with statistics at all?
• Who does the falsification? The statisticians or the politicians?
• Why bother speaking truth to power if it is going to be rejected and you are likely to lose your job as a statistician?
• The diktats of unaccountable power eg these days = neo-liberalism and freemarket fundamentalism as propounded by trans national corporations. Also climate change deniers (especially the oil and gas corporations) and the anti-evolution intelligent designers.
• Think of a number, any number. Repeat it often and people will believe it.

>>>>>

Ref: Darrel Huff (1954) How to lie with statistics https://archive.org/details/HowToLieWithStatistics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Lie_with_Statistics
>>>>>

"Lies, damned lies, and statistics" is a phrase describing the persuasive power of numbers, particularly the use of statistics to bolster weak arguments. It is also sometimes colloquially used to doubt statistics used to prove an opponent's point.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lies,_damned_lies,_and_statistics

>>>>>