Introduction

Statistics has two roles in society. First, Statistics is in the business of creating stereotypes. Think of any stereotype you like, but to keep me out of trouble let’s consider something innocuous, like the hypothesis that Italians talk with their hands more than Scandinavians. To establish the stereotype, you need to collect data and use it to draw a conclusion. Often the conclusion is that either the data suggest a difference or that they do not. The conclusion is (almost) never whether a difference actually exists, only whether or not the data suggest a difference and how strongly they suggest it. Statistics has been filling this role in society for at least 100 years.