How does Amazon know what I like? Why does Facebook show me sites I might be interested in? Why is my car insurance costs different than others? Many major decisions are made based on numbers but can we trust them? What do they mean and do they really apply to us? In this class we will explore what some of these numbers mean and how they are arrived at. We will view numbers used to give credibility to information such as margins of error, algorithms, and graphs. Percentages, when used to report on information (polling results), are subject to error and not as precise as they appear. Is caffeine good for us? How many hours of sleep should we get? We will look at research studies used to influence us and change our behaviors. The results of these studies tend to be hyped in the news but they may not apply to us and possibly hurt our decision making. Major studies can also disagree (is butter good or bad) so we will look at some of the reasons why.

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This course contains no sessions