Using numbers to persuade
Expressing numbers
• Read the article 'A nation of addicts glued to
the box'.
• Identify and comment on the statistics used in
the article.
• Identify and comment on the language used
to express the statistics in the article.
A nation of addicts glued to the box
If television is truly the 'drug of the nation' then it appears that we
are cripplingly addicted to it. More than half of us devote more
than five hours of each and every day to getting another fix of its
transmissions. We waste away 72 days each year in a flurry of
nature documentaries, soapy melodrama and live sport.
The survey carried out by a national building society also shows that
more than a third (35%) of those asked owned two TV sets, just
under a quarter (23%) had three and 6% had more than five sets.
The most common activity associated with viewing is eating, with
more than two-thirds of families now having their meals whilst
watching TV.
However, perhaps the most disturbing statistic was the indication
that one in five believe that without television life would hardly be
worth living.
The results of the survey disturb Greg Philo of Glasgow Media
Group. 'To produce this average... There must be some people
watching eight, ten hours a day... If you just sit down in front of the
TV you can spend hours where you've not really achieved anything.
TV stops us from doing the really good things in life.'
Alasdair Reisner
How we persuade
Think about the sentence:
'We waste away 72 days each year in a flurry
of nature documentaries, soapy melodrama
and live sport.'
What can you say about the language used?
How we persuade
• How else could we express '72 days'?
• What happens if we express it as;
– '19% of our time'?
– 'less than a fifth of a year'?
– Can you think of other ways to express it?
How we persuade
What would happen if we expressed it like
this:
'We spend less than a fifth of our time using
TV for educational, news and entertainment
purposes…'?
Can you think of another way to express this
sentence?
How we persuade
Think about the sentence:
'The survey carried out by a national building
society also shows that more than a third (35%)
of those asked owned two TV sets, just under a
quarter (23%) had three and 6% had more than
five sets.'
Why do you think the author has included this
information? What can you say about the
language used?
How we persuade
What happens to this sentence if we give
exactly the same figures in a different way?
'The survey carried out by a national building
society showed that almost two-thirds of
households had no TV or only one.'
What would be the intention of stating the
statistic this way?
Changing the tone
Rewrite the first two sentences (from 'If
television…' to '… its transmissions') to give a
positive view of people's TV watching habits.
Using statistics to
convey a message
• As you can see, numbers can be expressed in a
variety of ways.
• How we express numbers can be used to
convey a message to the reader or listener.
• Think about different ways to express
numbers for particular purposes.
What's the difference?
• Factually, there is no difference between
o 33% of people think Y
o One in three people think Y
o Two-thirds of all people think Z
o More than three out of ten people think Y
o Less than a third of all people think Y
• However, is there a difference tonally in these
expressions?
Maximising and minimising statistics
• We can make a statistic sound a lot or sound a
little depending on how we express it.
• In your groups, look at the statistics in the
following table.
• How could you express them in a way that seems
to you to make them sound:
neutral?
a lot
a little?
Percentage
Suggested
alternative
Make it sound a
little
Make it sound a lot
10%
One-tenth
'Only around…'
'As much as…'
23%
'Almost…'
3 in 10
49%
'Almost…'
52%
Two-thirds
75%
90%
All
Percentage
Suggested
alternative
Make it sound a little
Make it sound a lot
10%
One-tenth
'Only around…'
'As much as…'
'Not even a quarter…'
'Almost a quarter…'
23%
30%
3 in 10
'Less than a third…'
'As many as one in three…'
49%
5 in 10
'A minority…'
'Almost a half… '
52%
5 out of 10
'Barely half…'
'A clear majority…'
66%
Two-thirds
'As many as a third…' [reference to the
opposite]
'Two out of every three…'
75%
Three-quarters
'A significant minority…' [reference to the
opposite]
'It's hard to ignore the fact that three
quarters…'
90%
9 out of 10
'Hardly surprising that…' [make it seem too
obvious to mean much]
'All but…'
100%
All
'Of course everyone… but…' [make it seem
too obvious to mean much]
'It is unanimous…'
Stating the blooming obvious...
• How can we minimise and cast doubt on large
statistic?
• We can make it seem so obvious as to be
worthless. Think about the following
examples:
• ‘Of course everyone would agree with X: it’s a
bit like agreeing that air is good for you...’
• ‘So what if 100% of the population believe in
Y: is what is popular always what it right?’
Lies, damned lies and statistics
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lies,_damned_lies,_and_statistics)
• The same statistics can be used for very
different purposes, depending on the purpose
of the reader or speaker.
• Look at the following table, which shows how
the rate of smoking and the incidence of lung
cancer has changed between 1948 and 2009.
• What conclusions would you draw from these
figures?
Male smoking prevalence
Female smoking prevalence
Male lung cancer incidence
Female lung cancer incidence
140
Smoking data weighted after 1998, source: GHS, ONS
Smoking data prior to 1974 from Wald and Nicolaides-Bouman, 1991
Actual lung cancer incidence data 1975-2008 from CR-UK
Source: Cancer Research UK
2007
0
2003
0
1999
20
1995
10
1991
40
1987
20
1983
60
1979
30
1975
80
1968
40
1964
100
1960
50
1956
120
1952
60
Year
http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/types/lung/smoking/#cancer
Rate per
100,000
70
1948
% of adult population who smoked cigarettes
Figure 6.1: Lung cancer incidence and smoking trends, Great Britain, by sex, 1948-2009
The Clean Air Group
• The Clean Air Group is a pressure group which
campaigns for increased cigarette taxes and
more smoke-free zones, with a view to an
eventual ban on smoking.
• Imagine the group has just received this
information from Cancer Research UK.
• Write a brief press release commenting on
what the figures reveal.
Free Smokers Now!
• Free Smokers Now! is a campaign group
which advocates personal choice in smoking
and the repeal of anti-smoking legislation
which limits smokers' rights.
• Imagine the group has just received this
information from Cancer Research UK.
• Write a brief press release commenting on
what the figures reveal.
Migration: pressure groups
1. Hands across Borders: A humanitarian body which
promotes sensitivity towards immigrant issues and
campaigns for greater freedom to come to the UK.
2. Border Watch: A think-tank which examines
migration figures and advises on policy, particularly
with a view to implementing stricter immigration
controls.
• Imagine these groups have just received the
following information from the UK government.
• Write a brief press release for each group,
commenting on what the figures reveal.
Using statistics yourself: migration
Table 1a: Long Term Migration to the UK, 1991-2009 (thousands)
Year
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Inflow
329
268
266
315
312
318
327
391
454
479
481
516
511
589
567
596
574
590
567
Outflow
285
281
266
238
236
264
279
251
291
321
309
363
363
344
361
398
341
427
371
Total
+44
-13
-1
+77
+76
+55
+48
+140
+163
+158
+171
+153
+148
+245
+206
+198
+233
+163
+196
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmhaff/361/36105.htm
Chart 1a: Long Term Migration to the UK, 1991-2009
•
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmhaff/361/36105.htm
Crime: pressure groups
1. Justice for Victims: A campaign group which
advocates longer sentences and increased police
powers, and calls for a referendum on the return
of capital punishment.
2. Just Society: A campaign group which advocates
liberal criminal justice perspectives.
• Imagine these groups have just received the
following information from the UK
government.
• Write a brief press release for each group,
commenting on what the figures reveal.
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/rp99/rp99-111.pdf
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/rp99/rp99-111.pdf
The environment: pressure groups
1. Heal the Air: A charity which funds clean air
campaigns and projects around the world and
demands tough anti-pollution legislation.
2. Get Real!: A campaign group which advocates a
slow and considered approach to pollution
legislation to protect the interests of industry
and the economy.
• Imagine these groups have just received the
following information from the UK
government.
• Write a brief press release for each group,
commenting on what the figures reveal.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/statistics/files/additional-results-2009-v2.pdf
Self / Peer Evaluation
• Write down in bullet points how comfortable you
feel now about the use of statistics in persuasive
writing. You may wish to identify
– What you found easy or difficult about these tasks;
– What ways you think you can use statistics that you
didn't know before;
– What questions you would like answered to be able to
use statistics more effectively.
• Submit your bullet points to your teacher / share
them with your peers.