If you own a gun and have a swimming pool in the yard, the swimming pool is almost 100 times more likely to kill a child than the gun is.
Steven LevittRead
Data, I think, is one of the most powerful mechanisms for telling stories. I take a huge pile of data and I try to get it to tell stories.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Data can be used effectively to convey narratives and insights.
In this quote, Steven Levitt emphasizes the powerful role of data in storytelling. He suggests that by analyzing and interpreting data, we can uncover meaningful narratives that can inform, influence, and engage audiences, demonstrating the importance of data in modern communication and decision-making.
Themes
DataStoriesCommunicationInsightAnalysis
In practice
Example use cases
In a conference about data journalism, this quote can be used to highlight the importance of data analysis.
More from Steven Levitt
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And knowing what happens on average is a good place to start. By so doing, we insulate ourselves from the tendency to build our thinking - our daily decisions, our laws, our governance - on exceptions and anomalies rather than on reality
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Go out and collect data and, instead of having the answer, just look at the data and see if the data tells you anything. When we're allowed to do this with companies, it's almost magical.
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