In today’s world, we are barraged with data found anywhere from headlines and social media to governments and banks. Authors Gibson and Camm shed light on how the origin of numbers like these shapes our decisions and how to avoid being duped by them. People don’t give much consideration to how data impacts their lives. For example, cell phones track where we go and what we buy. Marketers use this data to send targeted advertisements to influence buying behavior. While this data focuses on the personal, there are other kinds, like community (crime), banking (interest rates), national (government spending), and so on. In addition to the origins and awareness of data types, the authors offer defense strategies for all to use for better data interpretation. One is an exercise on fact and opinion, where readers can use a checklist to differentiate information in a Wikipedia entry. Readers will be drawn into this well-researched book filled with anecdotes and punctuated with key points at the end of each chapter. They will also gain insights into how to approach data more objectively while gaining data-literacy skills.

Booklist

Being an effective consumer of data and information is a prerequisite for living a good life in the 21st century. This book has the tools and insights you need to become numerate and literate in a data-driven world.

Thomas H. Davenport, Distinguished Professor, Babson College, Research Fellow, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, Author of Competing on Analytics and All In on AI

All of us are drowning in data. Gibson and Camm provide a roadmap through the interpretation of data that will transform people who know little about data into intelligent consumers of all types of data.

Wayne L. Winston, Professor Emeritus of Decision Sciences, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University