Reducing the incidence of grand claims

[Mirzam]

This article looks at the claim that vaccines reduced the number of cases of infectious diseases and there for death and disability. 

http://nocompulsoryvaccination.com/2012/12/12/reducing-the-incidence-of-grand-claims/

Quote:

INCIDENCE
But what about incidence? That is, the number of cases of the illness, regardless of whether the affected person died. Did vaccines reduce this? The answer is… who knows? It’s actually impossible to tell: at least, not statistically. To explain, I’ll start by taking you back, almost 70 years, to a special book written by Darrell Huff. Regarded as one of the biggest selling books on statistics ever, “How to Lie with Statistics” was commonly used as an introductory textbook for statistics students.

[IdentityCrisisMama]

  For more responses...

[pek64]

How to lie with statistics. I saw that in my statistics course in college. Numbers can be used to show the truth or tell a lie.

[prosciencemum]

Yeah. For example sample selection can play a role.

For example, if you talk to a bunch of people online In a forum which attracts people whose children have had vaccine reactions (or might have had them) then you might get the impression that those reactions are very very common.