4 Blown out of proportion

Contributor: Shannon Ang
Date: 21 May 2019

Proportions (sometimes expressed in percentages) are commonly used in popular media to reflect public opinion. In fact, it is often the only type of statistic we get11 to evaluate as “evidence”. For instance, a news article may state that “nearly 46 per cent of those aged 18 to 25 would allow extremist views that deem all other religions as enemies to be published”12, or that “59 per cent of Chinese find a Malay president acceptable”13. While these proportions are easy for the general public to understand, they can be misleading if not read carefully. This case study looks at two different news articles, showing how some claims can be exaggerated by careless use of numbers.

  1. Reports such as those released in the form of IPS working papers, sometimes include multivariable analysis, but often after many pages of crosstabulations↩︎

  2. https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/nearly-1-2-young-sporeans-open-extremist-views-being-posted-online-survey-shows↩︎

  3. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/majority-willing-to-accept-president-or-pm-of-another-race-but-prefer-one-of-their-own↩︎