The general population is not used to interacting with data and analytics and interpreting results. With the COVID-19 crisis, millions of people are now becoming armchair analysts and they have plenty of time on their hands to practice their newfound analytical “skills”. Add to this a media industry that loves to put forth shocking headlines to grab clicks and a social media complex that similarly rewards attention, however achieved. We are left with an environment ripe for widespread confusion about what’s really happening with COVID-19. This post will discuss a few ways that even professionals can fall into common traps that distort what the data is really telling us and can lead to analytical malpractice.
Definitions Really Matter
At the most fundamental level, how a piece of data is collected and defined is a critical thing to understand. There are many ways that a “COVID-19 Death” is being defined by different jurisdictions, for example. In some cases, only those dying of clear COVID-19 complications in context of a firm COVID-19 test and diagnosis are counted. In other cases, anyone exhibiting symptoms associated with COVID-19 is counted even if no test was given to confirm it wasn’t just a cold or allergies.
It isn’t ...
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