More or Less is the BBC’s flagship programme on the use and misuse of statistics. On 1 February it led on on digging down into alarmist reports of a survey on the extent of Holocaust denial in the UK. It discovered poor survey design that led to gross over-statement of the extent of the problem. All holocaust denial must be challenged but exaggerating its extent both normalises it, aiding antisemites; and gives apparent credence to those who claim that Israel is the only safe haven for Jews.
Despite the flaws in the methodology the survey results were widely reported in lurid terms, including on the BBC itself Holocaust Memorial Day: ‘Shocking’ levels of denial remain
Transcript
Tim Harford: … Last Sunday was Holocaust Memorial Day; a day of solemn remembrance, but it was also a day of appalled surprise because a poll was published claiming that “as many as one in 20 adults in Britain don’t believe the Holocaust took place and 1 in 12 believe its scale had been exaggerated.” Continue reading “Holocaust denial is a sin: exaggerating it is reckless”
