Do Americans spend $18K/year on non-essentials?

This is a fine example of using misleading statistics to try and make an argument.

USA Today tweeted out this graphic, related to some data that was collected by some firm.

There appear to be a number of method issues with this data, so a number of ways to use this in your class:

1) False Dichotomy: Survey response options should be mutually exclusive. I think there are two types of muddled dichotomies with this data:

a) What is "essential"?

When my kids were younger, I had an online subscription for diapers. Those were absolutely essential and I received a discount on my order since it was a subscription. However, according to this survey dichotomy, are they an indulgence since they were a subscription that originated online.

b) Many purchases fall into multiple categories.

Did the survey creators "double-dip" as to pad each mean and push the data towards it's $18K conclusion?

Were participants clear that "drinks out with friends" and "eating out at restaurants" were two discreet categories? What category applies if I impulsively buy a curling iron (for personal grooming) online?

2) Data from an established, well-known news source is not perfect data.

This data went viral. Lots of people were exposed to this data, as it was linked by local news channels and local newspapers. But that doesn't make it perfect data.

3) The data assumes that all Americans use all of the products in all of these categories.

Plenty of people don't belong to a gym or use ride-sharing services, but these expenses still count towards the total for all Americans.

4) Conflict of interest.

The original data was collected in order to make an argument in favor of buying life insurance. Specifically, they were arguing that individuals could afford life insurance if they better budgeted, which is true for some people. However, it is problematic to frame certain expenses as an option when they are not.

5) If a person didn't use one of these services, where their "zeroes" counted towards the mean?

Comments

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