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Estimating Mortality in War‐Time Iraq: A Controversial Survey with Important Lessons for Students
Author(s) -
De Maio Fernando
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
teaching statistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.425
H-Index - 13
eISSN - 1467-9639
pISSN - 0141-982X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9639.2007.00268.x
Subject(s) - framing (construction) , ambiguity , politics , statistical analysis , statistics , mathematics education , social science , sociology , psychology , political science , geography , law , mathematics , computer science , archaeology , programming language
Summary In teaching introductory quantitative methods in sociology, I have used a controversial survey of mortality in Iraq before and after the 2003 invasion to highlight to students the power of simple questionnaires, the role of ambiguity in statistics and the place of politics in the framing of statistical results. This brief report summarizes Roberts et al.'s (2004) estimate that the invasion of Iraq resulted in 98,000 (95% CI = 8000–194,000) deaths, as well as the intriguing reaction that the survey received in the press. Statistics teachers should find the Roberts et al. study to be an effective way to introduce students to more controversial – and political – aspects of statistical research.