Argumentation Analysis: Invalid Statistical Measure

Invalid Statistical Measure

Biased and atypical samples, misleading graphs, nonrepresentative averages.
CNBC. 6:57 AM 3/4/05. Kudlow interviews Allen Cohen of the Finish Line footwear company. Based on the results of a retail outlet that focuses on a primary necessity, Kudlow concludes that retailers in general are growing stronger despite the contradictory claims. Moments later CNBC reports that retail electronics sales were down 5%.
CNN news polls and Fox News polls, of presidential preference, taken on the same day, reflected numbers that appealed to their respective audiences but within the five percent margin of error.
A CNN News correspondent (1:30 PM 8/21/04) compared American Gas Prices to those of Great Britain, "...about $7.00 a gallon. It's not the end of the world." Gas prices are always more expensive in Great Britain because the national health care system is partly paid for at the pump.
Bradly Smith, Chairman of the Federal Election Commission, On C-SPAN 7:28 AM 8/24/04, made an equal comparison of the funding of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, with that of MoveOn.org. It was proven beforehand in the New York Times, that there were little more than three degrees of separation between the members of the Swift Boat Veterans, Karl Rove, and President Bush, and almost no connection between George Soros and John Kerry. In Fact, Two of the Swift Boat Veterans were shown on television making glowingly positive speeches on behalf of John Kerry in 1996.
CNN Saturday 8/28/04: A statement in a report on the state of Wyoming "spending more per capita" on homeland security than the state of New York is a non-story since the price of an emergency generator or a chemical suit is not dependent on the population of the state within which it is sold. The price of any item will not go down once it crosses the border into the state of Wyoming simply because there are less people there.
The report goes on to cite instances of purchases in other states in an attempt to apply a "post-hoc" argument to Wyoming.
The Associate Press, Saturday 03/05/05: A report that the "Economy adds quarter-million jobs" stating in the article that it was a "bright signal that the labor market is on the mend" was misleading. Although the report, appearing in The Illinois State Journal Register stated that 262,000 jobs were added, 200,000 of those jobs were low wage service jobs that paid under $8 per hour, adding to the ranks of the 40 million Americans who work but can't afford to save for retirement. The article states that "Wall Street rallied on the news, propelling the Dow Jones industrials to a 3 1/2-year high."
The article stated that "Gains were broad based: Manufacturing, construction, retail, health care, and business services were among the sectors seeing increases." This report contradicts ABC Nightly news on Friday March 4, 2005 which reported that 200,000 of the new jobs were service related and paid $7 per hour and less.