Includes bibliographical references (p. 233-239) and index.

Introduction Making News and Making Sense: The News That's "Fit to Print" -- The Ambiguity of News -- The News That isn't There: Stories That Are--and Aren't--Covered -- Much Ado About Little: Making News Mountains out of Research Molehills -- The Ambiguity of Measurement -- Bait and Switch: Understanding "Tomato" Statistics -- The Perils of Proxies: Is There a There There? -- Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full? A Look at Statistics from Both Sides Now -- Polls Apart: The Gertrude Stein Approach to Making Sense of Contradictory Surveys -- The Reality and Rhetoric of Risk: Telling It Like It Is--and Isn't -- Distinguishing "Reports" from Reality: Confusing the Map with the Territory -- The Ambiguity of Explanation -- Blaming the Messenger, Ignoring the Message: Do Motives Matter? -- Tunnel Vision and Blind Spots: The Danger of Hedgehog Interpretations -- Conclusion: Hard to Tell: Journalism, Science, and Public Policy--An Inherent Conflict? -- Afterword: The Anthrax Feeding Frenzy.

Three experts on research, science, and the media provide an antidote to the statistical overload that has had our heads spinning for years. This revealing book sets the record straight, separating fact from fiction, on such topics as cell phones, missing children, breast implants, AIDS, cancer, radiation, violent crime rates, illegitimate birthrates, and day care crises.