Professor: Rebecca Altman

4.00 credits

• CRN 35998: Monday & Wednesday, 10:00-11:20am @ FR 106

Do you ever wonder what the numbers reported in the news actually mean, or where they come from? How do you know you can trust the story the numbers are telling... or the story the authors say the numbers are telling? 
In this course, we will take a deep dive into the world of misrepresented data and analyze its presence both in our general society and in scientific reporting. We will learn common methods of data analysis and will evaluate their reliability in representing different types of data sets. While this is not a statistics or math-heavy course, we will analyze how data can be misrepresented due to errors in the scientific process and in data reporting. By questioning how data can be manipulated and misrepresented, we will identify key factors that help us evaluate the significance of data, and how to properly utilize analysis methods in our own reporting– to both general and scientific audiences.