Using Numbers to Persuade: Hidden Rhetoric of Statistics
To Appear in International Econometric Review - April 2020
ABSTRACT
Logical positivism is the basis for current knowledge, it maintains that facts are objective, indisputable, universally verifiable and do not require any persuasion. Since rhetoric is to persuade, it is considered a deceit that overlooks reality so rejected as an acceptable mode of knowledge. It argues numbers represent facts and are only means to get to objective truths. Therefore, current form of statistics highly emphasizes the numbers and explicitly ignores the interpretation and meanings of those numbers, because it involves subjectivity. This philosophy originates from the idea that there is distinction between facts and values. But in real world, value judgements and facts are entangled such that it becomes impossible to avoid rhetoric. So, it is used under the cover of statistics. We practically illustrate how apparently objective statistics have arbitrary and subjective choices.
Majority of real-world experiences cannot be reduced to numbers, but scientific approach compels us to measure everything. In attempt to measure the unmeasurables like trust, intelligence, corruption and wealth etc. it is inevitable to make subjective choices. But there is no objective way to reduce multiple measures to a single number. In field of economics values are involved even in the seemingly indisputable numbers like GDP. It is value laden in term of choices made for the factors included, the weights assigned to the factors, and their signs. But those are concealed behind the rhetoric of objectivity. Making comparisons on such measures without awareness have harmful implications for policy making. It is also desirable to understand hidden values and avoid deception. We establish that it is impossible to make objective comparisons for GDP across countries and even across times due to exchange rates and adjustments made for inflation and population etc. It is always subjective to make a choice about what information is important for a given comparison purpose.
Key Words: Data interpretation, Wealth of Nations, Gross Domestic Product
JEL Codes: C81, C82, A20, B23
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