Statistics play an influential role in persuading public opinion on issues ranging from birth control to terrorism. However, sometimes these so-called statistical calculations and discoveries need to be taken with a grain of salt. This lecture will examine the application of statistics in American media and give examples of where statistics has been grossly misused.

Talithia Williams, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the Mathematics department at Harvey Mudd College. Formerly with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA Johnson Space Science Center, she has also spent time researching with the National Security Agency. Recent research on modeling cataract surgical rates in Africa is leading to a more effective means of deploying resources to eliminate blindness deriving from the disease.

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