How Statistics Can Accidentally Lie

Researchers sometimes run hundreds of tests on data and report only the successful results, creating an illusion of a breakthrough. This common practice, known as p-hacking, turns random coincidences into fake discoveries.

If you flip a coin enough times, you will eventually see a streak of ten heads in a row just by chance. Data dredging exploits this logic by cherry-picking rare patterns that appear significant but are actually meaningless noise. Because these false positives are rarely challenged, they can lead to misleading conclusions in science and medicine. Understanding this trick helps you realize that not every groundbreaking study is as solid as it seems.