Chapter 1 - Introduction

Summary

This chapter provides an introduction to the main themes of the book and why this is a book about the misuse of language, just as much as the misuse of numbers. Statistics are never just numbers, for the numbers have to be labelled. Because politicians are so distrusted at present, people expect politicians to manipulate statistics. This opening chapter introduces readers to a number of excellent recent books about statistics, most of which have been addressed to non-specialist readers. The topic of statistics is a broad one and can sustain a variety of books with different slants. Unlike other books on statistics, this one looks directly at manipulation and how it occurs. A recurring theme of the book is that the political manipulation of statistics is not typically a single act, but politicians will often manipulate their statisticians to manipulate the official statistics on their behalf. This opening chapter also comments on the book’s style of writing. The authors write aim to write in a clear and non-technical way, and to give special emphasis to the ways that politicians manipulate language when manipulating numbers.