How and what people count and measure, how the results are assembled, compared, presented, and communicated are all based on choices and reflect the perspectives and priorities of those people. Accepting statistical data at face value without considering the context leads to errors of interpretation. The ability to correctly interpret statistics and think critically about context and the causal or correlation relationship of statistics are both key to statistical literacy.
Here are three tips that can help you spot problems-
Here is one example to help you think through the last two points above-
in the year 2017, the US recorded just over 136 million valid passports in circulation while Canada had just over 22 million valid passports in circulation. What does that tell us about the proportion of Canadians vs. Americans who travel abroad?
Population health can focus on a variety of health outcomes and indicators, patterns of health determinants, and even policies and interventions. The primary focus of the sources provided here is statistical data regarding health indicators and outcomes and some health determinants.
The sources on this page were selected for being current and well-maintained, reliable, and transparent. Sometimes it can be time consuming for data to be collected and processed (particularly since COVID) so you may not find statistical information for the preceding year or more. On the other hand, some parts of data processing and presentation evolve quickly, which means there is a lot of change in web pages and web addresses. If you encounter broken links please email me, hnewcomer@olympic.edu
Sometimes comparing your own area with another provides useful insight. We can compare the US to other countries, Washington State to other states, and Kitsap County to other counties. Thurston County in Washington is slightly more populous than Kitsap County, and Yakima County is slightly less populous than Kitsap County. If you are looking for a comparison between similarly-sized, county-based populations in Washington State, you can use these counties.
Of course, it may be that the size of the county's population is less important for your purposes than some other factor- access to health care, or urban vs. rural land use. In that case, you should consider selecting other areas of comparisons. If you are trying to draw useful comparison, you can compare your target area internationally, nationally, across state lines, etc. However, it is important to be sure your comparison is logical and appropriate.
For global and national level data and statistics, as well as comparisons, here are some useful websites-
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