Lies, damned lies, and statistics
From RationalWiki
"Lies, damned lies, and statistics" is an expression attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, a Victorian-era prime minister of the United Kingdom.
It is used in two ways:
- An allusion to the fact that anyone can, using spin, easily twist statistics so that they appear to support some position.
- An allusion to the fact that such people may also impugn valid statistics that falsify their position.
Damned Lies and Statistics is also a handy guide to statistical trickery by Joel Best.