News and Numbers : A Guide to Reporting Statistical Claims and Controversies in Health and Other Fields

News & Numbers is a simple and nonmathematical "how to" guide-how to understand and analyze and explain and do a better job of telling our audiences the truth... - Victor Cohn

Numbers and statistical claims are involved in nearly everything that journalists report. Science and medical issues, politics, business, crime analysis, sports-all demand numbers. This book helps the reader answer three key questions about all scientific studies, polls and other statistical claims: What can I believe? What does it mean? How can I explain it to others?

The second edition of News & Numbers builds on the tradition set by the original book, emphasizing clear thinking and commonsense approaches for understanding, analyzing and explaining statistics. Terms are explained in easy-to-understand, nontechnical language.

This updated edition contains new material in every chapter. New3 features include:

• a full chapter on polls and polling


• Sections on reporting disease outbreaks and evaluating managed health care plan


• A section on focus groups


• Information on using the Interne


• Dozens of new examples of numbers in the news

The late Victor Cohn was a science writer for the Washington Post for 25 years, serving part of the time as the science editor. He was cited as one of the top science writers by the New York Times and Newsweek.

Lewis Cope was a science writer for the Minneapolis-St Paul Star Tribune for 29 years and, like Cohn, the recipient of numerous awards. Each co-author formerly served as president of the National Association of Science Writers.