Statistics in Everyday Life
Statistics are things that can get in the way of our decisions, and they are not to be ignored. When the statistics are shown, the decision made is already implied in the numbers, and is obvious.
Statistics affect many decisions in life. For example, playing sports. When you’re playing something like American Football, a lot of plays are decided by the statistics, but none more than fourth down. Statistics show that from 1-3 yards out, going for a fourth down pays off about 56.7% of the time. From 4-8 yards, about 43.2% of the time it pays off, however from 9 or more yards, going for it works only less than 30% of the time. If you’re a head coach, going for it from 1-3 yards seems pretty safe, 4-8 you may be pushing it, but there’s still a good chance. If you’re more than 9 yards out, it’s safer to punt the ball away. Looking at these numbers affects the decision to either be aggressive or conservative. The statistics can directly tell you whether or not to be aggressive or safe, and make the decision for you.
Statistics can also affect what schools serve for lunch. Schools want to make sure the students are eating, and they enjoy what they’re eating. So you may be wondering, how does that tie into statistics? Well, let’s say on Tuesday, when the cafeteria served chicken nuggets, 90% of the students ate and came for seconds. But on Wednesday, when the cafeteria served pasta with pesto, only 30% of the students ate and had seconds. Looking at these numbers, it’s pretty clear to the school and the cafeteria what should be served more often. You have chicken nuggets, which almost everyone ate and enjoyed, while on the other hand you have pasta and pesto, which not too many people ate or enjoyed. These numbers give the school the decision to serve chicken nuggets more and pasta with pesto less, and it’s literally implied in the statistics. Statistics give people what decision to make, and it does so pretty clearly.
A decision that is affected by statistics that cannot be forgotten is when to drive and when to not. By when and when not to drive, we’re talking about the weather conditions. 47% of car crashes caused by the weather are just caused by wet roads from the rain. Roads get slippery, cause cars to swerve and drift in a bad way, and then the accidents pile up. About 24% of the weather-caused car crashes are from icy roads, which is notoriously dangerous when driving. If you’re a driver and it’s raining outside or the roads are really icy, you may reconsider driving, especially if you’re aware of these numbers. Of course most car accidents and crashes are caused by human errors, but when driving you may not immediately be aware of that. But when you can see the roads from somewhere else, if it’s raining or icy roads, you’re aware of that and you know it’s probably not the best idea to be driving. Statistics make decisions for you and depending on the situation, can keep you safe.
Statistics can tell you whether to be aggressive or conservative, how to make sure people get what they want, and how to keep yourself safe. When the statistics are shown, the decision made is already implied in the numbers, and is obvious.
Sources
https://www.qualtrics.com/experience-management/research/survey-analysis-types/