Karl Miller wrote:

>Many years ago, I asked a guy I knew, who was a well respected Professor
>of Economics, if you would recommend only one book on economics, what
>would it be.  His answer, "How to lie with statistics."

Brings to mind a seminar on attendence statistics given by Chamber Music
America a few years ago in New York.  The speaker commented on results
of an audience survey taken in New York city and Boston.  The claim by
the Metropolitan Opera was that the survey supported the fact that Opera
attendence was on a significant "upswing".

What the Met failed to mention was that one of the survey questions was:
"What was the last operatic event that you have attended?" One of the
more frequent answers was "The Phantom of the Opera".

Nick