xkcd #3262: Sports Commentary

Title text:

The plural of anecdote may not be data, but the singular of data is anecdote.

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Source: https://xkcd.com/3262/

explainxkcd for #3262

The plural of anecdote may not be data, but the singular of data is anecdote.
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[–] 30 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Reduce the sample size by increasing qualifying parameters until you find a dataset that matches your hypothesis in such a way that the research grant will be approved.

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  • [–] 13 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 child)

    Sometimes even worse, which is to collect a raft of data testing one hypothesis, and then realize it all came up empty, and so go looking for any data you can form a new hypothesis from that matches the data you already have.

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