are there ways that people and ads use to make statistics look better or worse?

Answer 1

Always. The Gallup or national polls are inherently flawed by design.

There was once an article in the LA Times that cited a research study about the willingness of consumers to pay for IT support. The article was very proud to say that 30% of consumers surveyed would pay for IT support. Anyone who can do basic math could come to their own conclusion that 70% of consumers are not likely to or would not pay for IT support. But, the latter statistic wasn't disclosed in the article.

Answer 2

You can twist statistics very easily. The short answer is "yes"

I'll you a statistic I hear a lot (being the Antichrist and all)
"80 of the USA is Christian"
How many people really go to ANY type of services in the USA? if you poll people, 40% say they do, if you watch the doors though, it is closer to 20%.

A stat I am less biased toward is "Only 2% of college graduates are unemployed" OK, but how many of those people are working managing a Taco Bell or some other position they are WAY overqualified for.

Answer 3

Yes, the easiest way is to ask the right question of the right people. Take for example the Trident add. 4 out of 5 dentist recommend. Thats what people remember. The question they asked was...
For their patients who chew gum which gum do your prefer they chew sugarless or sugar gum. Most dentists recommend paitents do not chew gum and this fact was avoided.

So yes statistics can be distorted to provide and answer you want.

Answer 4

lets say i own a business and i increase my pay roll by fifty percent you would think that this business is really busy but the reality is i went from two employees to three employees.Now if i had said i added an employee and went from two too three employees you would of said who cares.Stats are easy to minipulate.