Field guide · read at your own pace
Bent Number
Interrogate the measuring stick. You do not need to fill anything out. Use the lines below as a way to notice what the first description left behind.
Boundary: A number can be accurate and still be insufficient for the question in front of it.
What to notice
Follow the lines without forcing them into one score.
Some lines will matter immediately. Others may stay unknown. That is useful: an honest blank is better than a confident guess.
- Question being asked
- Metric and definition
- Unit
- Population
- Numerator and denominator
- Adjustments and revisions
- Exclusions
- Alternative measure
Worked example
CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items
- Question: average covered consumer-price change
- Population: urban consumers represented by CPI-U
- Owner housing: shelter consumption through rental equivalence
- Household-specific lived cost: outside the index's complete frame
Where this method stops
Do not make the guide claim more than the record
- A scope boundary is not proof that a statistic is false.
- A specific methodological criticism must name the series, population, period, category, and method.
Transfer: Try the record on wages, school ratings, hospital scores, customer satisfaction, or on-time performance.