The Pitfalls of Statistics

by David Hachmeister

It gets complicated. Sales for stamps fell again against their stats from the two previous Junes. Other products rose a robust 9 percent.

Our indicator is dominated by a company that is deemphasizing stamps and moving into other areas. As a result, the stamps sales look a bit weaker than they should, and other products look far better than they would have otherwise. Without this one company, stamp sales would have been up for several of the recent months. This is the inherent problem with the very small sample we use.

Want to join us and help out? Please let me know at David@markingdevices.com. The broader the sample is, the more accurate the statistics. We even send you a nice little Christmas present!

Click each graph for a larger view.