Civics Specimens
Official Data Reporting
Seasonal adjustment, data revisions, real versus nominal, sampling error, provisional versus final counts — the mechanics of official statistics most often misread, examined the same way regardless of which figure it helps.
Specimen No. 1
Seasonal Adjustment Mistaken for Manipulation
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Specimen No. 2
Preliminary Estimate vs. Revised Figure
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Specimen No. 3
Nominal vs. Real (Inflation-Adjusted)
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Specimen No. 4
Headline Rate vs. Broader Measures
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Specimen No. 5
Disinflation vs. Deflation
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Specimen No. 6
Reported Crime vs. Victimization Survey
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Specimen No. 7
Base-Period Switching
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Specimen No. 8
Per Capita vs. Absolute Counts
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Specimen No. 9
Point Estimate vs. Sampling Error
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Specimen No. 10
Methodology Change Framed as Fudging
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Specimen No. 11
Provisional vs. Final Data
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Specimen No. 12
Index Construction
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