Title: Learn How Anecdotal Evidence Can Trick You! - Statistics By Jim
Headings: Learn How Anecdotal Evidence Can Trick You!
Learn How Anecdotal Evidence Can Trick You!
Statistical Methodology versus Anecdotal Evidence
Graphically Illustrating the Shortcomings of Anecdotal Evidence
A scientific study of the weight loss supplement
How Statistics Beats Anecdotal Evidence
Has anecdotal evidence ever influenced you?

Content: Humans are more likely to tell and remember dramatic, extraordinary personal stories. Throw in some emotion, and you’re more likely to believe the story. In psychological terms, statistical analysis of data that are carefully collected from well designed experiments lacks that emotional kick. Sad but true. Furthermore, if B follows A, our brains are wired to assume that A causes B.
Finally, anecdotal evidence cherry picks the best stories. You don’t hear about all of the unsuccessful cases because people are less likely to talk about them. So, if Fred tells an emotional story about how he took a supplement and then lost a lot of weight, we’ll remember Fred’s story and assume that the supplement caused the weight loss. Unfortunately, we don’t hear from the other 10 people who took the supplement and didn’t lose weight. We also don’t know what else Fred might be doing to lose weight. Collectively, these factors bias conclusions drawn from anecdotal evidence towards unusual outcomes and unjustified causal connections.