There is no doubt that statistics are incredibly beneficial. Whether you’re looking at a Psychology study, medical studies, advertising or politics. We are surrounded by statistical evidence everyday in newspapers, magazines, on the television, the radio, in academic research papers etc. As a Psychology student stats have become the bane of my life, however I do understand the importance of them. If there were no benefits, then statistics wouldn’t be used everywhere.
One good thing about statistics is that they allow extensive data to be condensed into a manageable format. Some studies use large samples that are split into groups and then assigned to different conditions. For example the study of conservation by Samuel and Bryant used a sample of 252 children, split them into 4 age groups and then split the children into 3 conditions; standard, one judgement and fixed array. The children from each condition was then tested uses 3 different materials; mass, number and then volume. As you can imagine a lot of data was collected. However by using a statistical procedure all the figures could be analysed into a few manageable figures. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1984.tb00152.x/pdf
In addition to summarizing the figures, statistics describe and explain the results. Research studies often use technical language and complicated procedures that make no sense to those who have not studied that particular field, so it would be a mission trying to explain findings to outsiders and the general public without simplifying the results.
However the power of statistics (like everything and everyone), is abused by the media. Numerous hair and beauty products claim to have high success rate, claiming that 70% + women agree the product works. However the adverts fail to say how the results were collected or how the sample was collected. Furthermore, the sample is often very small, reducing the validity and reliability of the evidence. For example, a L’Oreal advert that claimed to combat wrinkles and cellulite said that a mere 71% of 48 women agreed. This advert was removed by the ASA, but there are still many similar adverts out there. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2005/aug/17/advertising.uknews
This is also a problem in Psychology as studies may show high success rates for treatments, therapies, theories etc, however they are not 100%. The people that are not included in this percentage are at risk of being excluded and ignored.
So basically, statistics are very beneficial, however can be a problem if misinterpreted or misused.
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