Guide sections
Guide sections
The guide is divided into four topics, depending on the kind of number you have come across: poll results, a ranking or reviews, an average, a percentage or a chart, or official statistics. Each topic has cards with materials and a tip on where to start if you are short of time. The materials are linked: the step-by-step article relies on the glossary, and the reading lists bring together what you need for a specific situation.
Most mistakes with numbers are not deception but haste. A couple of minutes spent asking "where does this number come from?" usually saves more time than it takes.
Selection criteria: the question is one an ordinary person has when they meet numbers in the news, adverts, rankings and reviews; the answer can be checked against statistics textbooks, materials from professional associations of researchers or official statistics publications; the advice does not require paid services, does not advertise products or services and does not touch on political topics.
Polls
How opinion and market research surveys work, what sampling and margin of error are, and what a sound poll should disclose.
- Answers about polls
Why 1,000 respondents can be enough, what "±3 points" means and what the margin of error does not cover.
- Sampling and survey terms
Population, sample, representativeness, margin of error, confidence level.
- Numbers in the news
A reading list for anyone who wants to read news about poll results with a calm head.
Ratings and reviews
Rankings of products, services, schools and cities, marketplace star ratings and reviews: what they measure and where their weak spots are.
- Answers about ratings and reviews
Why a product with five reviews can have a perfect score, and how a rating differs from a measurement.
- Before you buy
A reading path for anyone choosing a product or service by its ratings and reviews.
- Five steps to any ranking
A short example on the home page: who compiled it, what was measured, what data it uses, how big the differences are.
Averages, percentages and charts
Mean and median, percentages and percentage points, charts with a truncated axis, correlation and causation, Simpson's paradox.
- How to check a number from the news
A step-by-step article with hypothetical examples: from the original source to charts and group comparisons.
- Descriptive statistics
Glossary: mean, median, percentage point, relative and absolute growth.
- Answers about statistics
Correlation and causation, mean and median, truncated chart axes.
Official data
Where to find Russia's official statistics, what a population census is, and how to tell official data from a retelling of it.
- Reference
Rosstat, the population census, standards for disclosing survey methodology.
- New publications
A dated feed of the guide's materials.
- Guide archive
All materials by date and topic.
Related sections
- Practical articles
How to check a number from the news or an advert, step by step, plus a catalogue of upcoming articles.
- Questions and answers
Short answers about polls, ratings, reviews and basic statistical concepts.
- Reading lists
Reading paths: getting started, before you buy, numbers in the news.
Sources
- Rosstat (Federal State Statistics Service)
- AAPOR — Transparency Initiative
- ESOMAR — International Code
- Textbooks on statistics and survey methodology
- Encyclopaedic sources
Information is current as of the preparation date. Research methods, official statistics releases and the standards of professional associations change over time, so always check the latest data in the original sources.