Statistical Assessment Service

STATS was founded in 1994 by S. Robert Lichter, a professor of communications at George Mason University.

In 2001, Lichter and his staff published It Ain't Necessarily So, a book about the media's coverage of a range of topics from crime statistics to the 2001 anthrax attacks. The Philadelphia Inquirer called it "a solid critique of the way data-based reports and studies are presented in the media",{{Cite news|title=Media's statistics don't add up, critics say |author= Neill Borowski |newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=2 August 2001 }} while Salon.com felt that the book employed "the very same tactics that it finds so objectionable when used by journalists and publishers".{{Cite web |url= http://archive.salon.com/books/review/2001/07/02/murray/index.html |title= It Ain't Necessarily So |author= David Appell |date= 2 July 2001 |work= salon.com |access-date= 16 July 2010 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090422232352/http://archive.salon.com/books/review/2001/07/02/murray/index.html |archive-date= 22 April 2009 |df= dmy-all }}

In 2007, STATS sponsored a survey of climate scientists, which was conducted by Harris International. The survey found that most climate scientists believe that human-induced global warming is occurring, although there is disagreement about its consequences, and few trust the popular media coverage of climate change.{{Cite web|url= http://politics.usnews.com/news/national/articles/2008/04/23/survey-tracks-scientists-growing-climate-concern/photos/ |title= Survey Tracks Scientists' Growing Climate Concern |author= Marianne Lavelle |date=23 April 2008 |work=usnews.com |accessdate=21 July 2010}}

In 2009, the Milwaukee 'Journal-Sentinel argued that STATS's coverage of the chemical Bisphenol A verged on advocacy for the chemical industry.{{Cite news|title=Flaws in the Case Against BPA |author=Gina Kolata |series=TierneyLab blog |date=30 June 2009 |work=The New York Times|url=http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/flaws-in-the-case-against-bpa/ }} On the STATS website, Lichter posted a response disputing the Journal-Sentinel article, calling its reporting and logic "flawed".{{Cite web |url=http://stats.org/stories/2009/dorothy_meets_marlboro_aug27_09.html |title=Dorothy Parker Meets The Marlboro Man: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's BPA Conspiracy Theory |author=Robert S. Lichter |year=2009 |work=stats.org |publisher=Statistical Assessment Service |access-date=26 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111093239/http://stats.org/stories/2009/dorothy_meets_marlboro_aug27_09.html |archive-date=11 January 2011 }}

In 2010, Donors Trust awarded STATS $86,000 for its "research efforts".

STATS was dissolved in 2014, and its website adopted by Sense About Science USA.{{cite news |last1=Gross |first1=Liza |title=Seeding Doubt: How Self-Appointed Guardians of "Sound Science" Tip the Scales Toward Industry |url=https://theintercept.com/2016/11/15/how-self-appointed-guardians-of-sound-science-tip-the-scales-toward-industry/ |accessdate=16 January 2020 |work=The Intercept |date=15 November 2016}}{{cite web|title=STATS|url=http://www.senseaboutscienceusa.org/aboutstats/|website=Sense About Science|access-date=13 March 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314063724/http://www.senseaboutscienceusa.org/aboutstats/|archive-date=14 March 2017}}

According to its website in 2006, the organization's goal was to help correct "scientific misinformation in the media resulting from bad science, politics, or a simple lack of information or knowledge; and to act as a resource for journalists and policy makers on major scientific issues and controversies".{{Cite web|url=http://www.stats.org/about.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060930205515/http://www.stats.org/about.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 September 2006|title=About Stats|date=12 July 2010|access-date=12 July 2010}}

Lichter was quoted by the Baltimore Sun in 1998, saying, "journalists are deluged with numbers representing findings in fields they're not familiar with".{{Cite news|title= Making sure the figures don't lie; Statistics: The tiny staff of the Statistical Assessment Service specializes in debunking press reports that hinge on numbers. Its director denies any political agenda.|author= Scott Shane |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|date=30 October 1998 }} Its sister organization is the Center for Media and Public Affairs, also affiliated with George Mason.

Before the organization was dissolved in 2016, Lichter served as the organization's president.{{Cite news|title=Numbers get a workout in campaign sport of Extreme Math |publisher=Associated Press |date=9 April 2004}} Other personnel included director of research Rebecca Goldin, a professor of mathematical sciences at George Mason and the Ruth Michler Fellow at Cornell University,{{Cite web|url=http://www.awm-math.org/michlerprize.html |title=Ruth I. Micheler Memorial Prize of the AWM |work=awm-math.org |publisher=Association for Women in Mathematics |accessdate=26 July 2010}} and STATS.org editor Trevor Butterworth, who is also listed as a senior fellow, and writes for the Huffington Post. {{As of|2010}}, other senior fellows included Maia Szalavitz, a contributor to Reason magazine, and Stephen Rose.{{Cite web|url=http://reason.com/people/maia-szalavitz/articles |title=Maia Szalavitz |work=Reason Magazine |accessdate=12 July 2010}}

The first director of STATS was David Murray, who previously worked for The Heritage Foundation and was later chief scientist for the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy.{{Cite web |url=http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/July2007/Murray070712.pdf |title=Testimony of Dr. David Murray |date=12 July 2007 |work=house.gov |publisher=Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security |access-date=26 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100708202335/http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/July2007/Murray070712.pdf |archive-date=8 July 2010 }} STATS is now a project of Sense About Science USA{{cite web|title=STATS|url=http://www.senseaboutscienceusa.org/aboutstats/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314063724/http://www.senseaboutscienceusa.org/aboutstats/|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 March 2017|website=Sense About Science|access-date=13 March 2017}}

The organization does not publicize their donors nor disclose their donors on Internal Revenue Service filings, but a review of IRS documents did show a $100,000 donation from the Sarah Scaife Foundation in 2007, a number that nearly equaled the listed assets of the Statistical Assessment Service.{{Cite news|url=http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/54195302.html |title='Watchdog' advocates for BPA |last=Rust|first=Susanne |author2=Meg Kissinger |date=22 August 2009 |work=Journal Sentinel |accessdate=29 July 2010}}

STATS produced an annual list called the "Dubious Data Awards", highlighting egregious factual inaccuracies in news reporting. In 2006, it challenged a study by the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, used by The New York Times and Forbes, which claimed that almost half of the alcohol industry's revenue came from underage drinkers. According to STATS, American teenagers who drink alcohol would each have to consume more than 1,000 drinks per year for this to be true.{{cite press release |title= Sex-Crazed Teens, Overhyped Abductions and Booze Bunk: Worst Science Journalism of 2006 |publisher= Ascribe Newswire |date=29 December 2006 }} STATS has also disagreed with recommendations from Time that parents should discontinue use of soft vinyl toys, teethers, and similar products containing phthalates. STATS made this case based on the fact that phthalates in children's toys have been cleared for use by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission; however, the European Union's Institute for Health and Consumer Protection has taken the opposite position, restricting the use of phthalate plasticizers in children's toys since 1998 and banning their manufacture in the E.U. in 2015 due to persistent health concerns. {{citation needed|date=April 2016}} The annual list has received coverage from The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, among other news organizations.{{Cite news|title= This is Your Brain… on White House Data|author= Robert Holland|newspaper=Richmond Times Dispatch|date=21 January 1998 }}

In 2004, STATS was quoted in newspaper articles about the use of statistics in political rhetoric. During the presidential election of 2004, the organization challenged claims by both George W. Bush and John Kerry at the request of the Associated Press.

STATS sponsored educational workshops, seminars, and webinars, such as the 2013 webinar, "Understanding Risk: A Primer for Journalists" at the National Press Foundation.:{{Cite web |url=http://nationalpress.org/programs-and-resources/program/understanding-risk-for-journalists/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120100256/http://nationalpress.org/programs-and-resources/program/understanding-risk-for-journalists/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 January 2013 |title=Understanding Risk: A Primer for Journalists |date=31 January 2013 |publisher=National Press Foundation }} Goldin lectures at universities and colleges across the country about the use and misuse of statistics, and was a Nifty Fifty Speaker for the U.S. Science and Engineering Festival in both 2012 and 2014.:{{Cite web |url=http://www.usasciencefestival.org/schoolprograms/niftyfifty/512-dr-rebecca.html |title=Nifty Fifty – Bring a Top Scientist to your Middle or High School: Dr. Rebecca Goldin |date=2013 |publisher=USA Science & Engineering Festival |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225184843/http://www.usasciencefestival.org/schoolprograms/niftyfifty/512-dr-rebecca.html |archive-date=25 December 2013 }}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.stats.org/ STATS] official website
• [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Statistical_Assessment_Service "Statistical Assessment Service"] at Sourcewatch, Center for Media and Democracy

Category:Criticism of journalism

Category:George Mason University

Category:Media analysis organizations and websites

Category:Misuse of statistics

Category:Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C.

Category:Organizations established in 1994

Category:Statistical service organizations