Truth or Truthiness: Distinguishing Fact from Fiction by Learning to Think Like a Data Scientist

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By Howard Wainer *68

Published Jan. 21, 2016

Conflicting claims about data appear in the media every day, so how can people figure out what is right? Using the tools of causal inference, Howard Wainer *68’s new book, Truth or Truthiness: Distinguishing Fact from Fiction by Learning to Think Like a Data Scientist, evaluates the evidence, or lack thereof, supporting claims in many fields, showing how a data scientist can expose truthiness, nonsense, and outright deception.

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PAW’s December 2025 cover, with a photo of Michael Park ’98.
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