Language Studies and Academics
Research:
Interpreting Survey Results
Fact vs. inference
Data & estimates
CM 2300
Language Studies and Academics
You will learn To…


Tell the difference between fact, data, estimate
and inference
Understand the risks/usefullness of making
inferences from facts
Language Studies and Academics
Fact OR Fiction?
Fact (noun)
1.
The quality of being actual;
2.
A piece of information presented as having objective
reality.
Both are valid meanings of the word ‘fact’.
But, they do not mean the same thing.
Being actual
Presented as having actual reality
Language Studies and Academics
Fiction OR Fact?
Inference (noun)
1. the act of passing from one proposition,
statement, or judgment considered as true to
another whose truth is believed to follow from
that of the former;
2. the act of passing from statistical data to
generalizations.
Language Studies and Academics
Fact AND Fiction?
Estimate (verb)
 to judge tentatively or approximately the
value, worth, or significance of;
 to determine roughly the size, extent, or
nature of.
Tentatively, approximately, roughly
Language Studies and Academics
Fact AND Fiction?
Datum (noun); data (plural)
 something given or admitted, especially
as a basis for reasoning or inference.
Language Studies and Academics
Making Sense of Facts,
Inferences, Data & Estimates
The following slides show information about the
trade in counterfeit products.
Examine each statement and determine when
each is a fact, an estimate, an inference.
Identify the statements that for you most
truthfully represent the topic. Finally, what
inferences can you draw from the information
that follows?
Language Studies and Academics
Quantitative Information

$600 Billion


$23 Billion


The loss to American companies from counterfeit products
$1 Billion


in New York City
$20 Billion


The annual sales in counterfeit products worldwide
The annual loss in tax revenues in New York City
$139 Million

The domestic value of all counterfeit goods seized by U.S.
Customs in 2004
Language Studies and Academics
Quantitative Information

550,000


10,000


Fake watches seized by Cartier in a raid of a NYC wholesaler
Square meters of fake Louis Vuitton monogram canvas seized in
France in 2004 – enough to make 28,000 wallets or 18,000
handbags
7%

Of total volume of world trade is represented by counterfeit goods
Source: International Anticounterfeiting Coalition as cited by Txtfo.com. Retreived May 28, 2008 from:
http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:Lzur3Xf2FcAJ:authentxt.com/presentation.pdf+%22percentage+of+counterfeit%22+rol
ex&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=ca
Language Studies and Academics
Quantitative Information

Raw numbers. Eg:



1,304 adults surveyed*
170 purchased or downloaded a counterfeit
product
89 of those knew the product was counterfeit
before buying it.*
Retrieved May 28, 2008 from: http://www.internetretailer.com/internet/marketing-conference/64653bogus-brands-internet.html
Language Studies and Academics
Quantitative Information

Analyzable & Interpretable Numbers. Eg:


13% of people who shop online purchase
fake products.
52.6% of people who purchase fake
products online know that the products they
purchase are fake.
*Retrieved May 28, 2008 from: http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0314/counterfeit.html
Language Studies and Academics
Quantitative Information

Analyzable & Interpretable Numbers. Eg:

400 counterfeit items seized in Ireland in 2007
worth €1.6m*


€4000 each ($2.5m or $6300 each)
30,052 items seized in Dubai in 2007**.

If Irish figures are comparable, that represents a total
value of $189,327,600 US.
* Retrieved May 28, 2008 from: http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0314/counterfeit.html
** Retrieved May 28, 2008 from:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2008/March/theuae_March457.xml&section=theuae
Language Studies and Academics
What have we learned from the
data on fake products?



Make some wild inferences based on the
information presented (as long as you can
support each one).
What conclusions seem okay, but which we
cannot be confident about?
What valid conclusions can be made from the
information presented?
Language Studies and Academics

The End