Our little town newspaper surprised me last week.  They published an editorial with a really positive take on the economy.  They put a twist on the statistics that are thrown at us daily these day - the looked at 'employment' figures instead of unemployment rates.  Here is a snippet from the "Hopkinton Independent":

National employment figures for January 2009:

   4.9 Million people left their jobs, but 2.0 Million (41%) of them quit voluntarily
   4.4 Million people were hired into new jobs

   3.1 Million jobs open at the end of the month

Northeast employment data for January 2009:

   806K people left their jobs, but 269K (34%) of them quit voluntarily

   733K were hired, an increase of 11% from November 2008

   542,000 jobs open at the end of the month

What a refreshing view in this stressful time! 

Like with so many things in life, statistics can be looked at in many different ways. In many cases, we can manipulate numbers to suit the point we are trying to make. It's not just a different outlook like with the glass being half full or half empty.  Numbers can be made to tell many different stories.  You can present data without giving all the facts.  You can adjust sample sizes until you get numbers that work to make your case.  You can even design surveys or experiments in such a way that you can get the results you want.  If that doesn't give you what you need, you don't have to tell anyone about that data at all.

 Here is a nice overview about the manupulation of statistics from effectivemeetings.com.  A word of caution -  when looking at data and statistics, think about where it all came from and what someone might be trying to get you to do with the information.  Don't take everything at face value.