1. Using census data on health insurance coverage in the United States (available at pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032007/health/h01001.htm), develop statistics, such as percentages, to support the argument against government reform of the health care industry in the United States. Use any portion of the data you deem important to support your argument.
2. Using the same data on that Web site, develop different statistics to support the counterargument to the one above. That is, interpret the data and present it in a way that supports the need for sweeping health care reforms to switch to government-provided health care for all. Again, use any portion of the data you deem important to support your argument.
“Company X has 34 percent market share,” “Brand A is preferred by over 60 percent of consumers,” “prices are increasing at a rate of 44 percent,” and “the average customer satisfaction rating is 4, satisfied, on a 1-5 scale.” These are all conclusions based on statistics. Statistics lend credibility to conclusions and can be very persuasive. But are the conclusions legitimate? Many are survey-based claims, meaning survey research is used to substantiate claims such as those used in advertising. Claiming 60 percent of consumers prefer your brand is powerful but can be misleading if only five consumers were sampled and three preferred that brand (that is, 60 percent). Interpretation of data can vary by who’s interpreting it. For example, saying that your average customer is satisfied may not be accurate, as an average rating of 4 could result from half of respondents indicating 5 (extremely satisfied) and the other half rating 3 (neither satisfied nor dissatisfied), which paints a different picture. Market share is the ratio of the company’s sales to total market sales, and a 34 percent market share is nice. But how is “market” defined? As you can see, numbers can say almost anything you want them to say. For more discussion of the financial and quantitative implications of marketing decisions, see Appendix 2: Marketing by the Numbers.