How accurate are statistics?

Everyday we see, hear, and read statistics from the media and people, but how easily we are manipulated and innocently swayed by these convincing statistics is interesting. Here are some examples: Children with bigger feet spell better. Counties with higher divorce rates tend to have lower death rates. Countries that drink water containing fluoride have higher cancer rates than those that do not.

Wouldn't that want to make us stretch our children's feet, divorce our wives, and drink nothing but bottled water?

Instead, these are definite examples of correlation and causation. Two or more quantities are related in some way, but not necessarily causes the other.

The truth is: older children have bigger feet and obviously can spell better than a toddler, older couples are less likely to divorce and more likely to die than younger couples, and nations with fluoride water are more wealthier and health-conscious resulting in a life span long enough to develop cancer, which is the disease of old age.

For more information:
http://www.cut-the-knot.org/do_you_know/misuse.shtml