info porn - don’t spread bad stats
December 26th, 2007 @ 5:06 am
“christians like info porn”
one of my friends, who’s been working in research and statistics for the last decade or so, wrote that in an email to me.
what led us to that conversation were some statistics many of us have seen before. i know i have, and i was hoping to use them in my book. but having been recently influenced by my brilliant stats-minded friend, i knew i had to track down the source and make sure it was indeed scientific and unbiased before claiming it gospel truth.
the stats i was looking up:
1500 ministers leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, burnout, or contention
50% of pastors’ marriages will end in divorce
80% feel unqualified and discouraged
50% would leave ministry but fear they couldn’t make a living
70% constantly fight depression
40% have had an extramarital affair while in ministry
70% say their only time reading the Bible is when they prepare sermons
i looked around and was able to track most of them down to an informal survey focus on the family did. sounds legit, right?
not so.
the survey was conducted at seminars for pastors/marriages. something i’ve learned in the course of writing mad church disease is just because you have a group of people answer questions, well, that doesn’t make it real research.
unfortunately, these stats cannot be considered accurate for a couple of reasons:
-it’s not a representative sample. the group is pastors who went to a FOF event. totally idiosyncratic.
-the wording of the questions are biased. and grouped. you can’t ask if they feel something AND something.
it would be like getting a group of 20 and 30 year old pastors together and then saying a majority of pastors are young. that’s just not the way statistics are done.
97% of christians get 80% of their stats from unreliable sources, and 73% of them will pass it on as truth. and yes, that whole sentence was a bunch of bull. christians like info porn!
moral of the story? take a stand against info porn. don’t spread bad stats!
on another note, i do have some scientific research that was conducted legitimately. and because i want you to wait a year and buy the book, i won’t put it up just yet… :)
but please let me say…things are not as bad as they may seem.
Dangit · Hmmmm · Leadership · Mad Church Disease · WHAT?! · Writing
Cindy Beall said,
December 26, 2007 at 9:22 am
Interesting. Sure I can’t get a sneak peak over those Diet Dr. Pepper’s from Sonic we’ll be enjoying?
A girl can try.
tony said,
December 26, 2007 at 9:34 am
yep - as you get older you realize that those of us that know numbers can make them say almost anything that we want them to. you can work absolute magic to get your point across to those you want to influence.
we are seeing a really, really disturbing trend in the ‘christian’ and ‘religious’ world. it’s called marketing so i can sell my stuff , or sell my ideas, or sell my church.
i have to say that i have been watching fof for the last several years and my impression of them has radically changed - they are now a pure marketing machine. but, they are only one of a million christian marketing machines in the world.
i think a great chapter for your book would be the “christian/religious marketing machine” - and i’m not talking about going after the tv folks, or the mega-church guys/girls - i’m talking about this hubge machine that markets to the christian and non-christian world in a manner that makes Jesus blush and turn his eyes away. i
(i’ll donate whati have already written on the subject to you, no tricks promise)
Anne - thanks for being a good author and searching for the truth - especially when it comes to christians and facts surrounding christian issues
Clif said,
December 26, 2007 at 9:40 am
You Rock Anne! Down with info porn!!!!!!!!
But you could post the numbers, I promise you we are all going to buy the book, probably even multiple copies, after the chapter 2 tease you need to throw us a bone. Maybe? Possibly? Pretty Please?
Have fun with the move & Happy New Year.
ryan b said,
December 26, 2007 at 10:24 am
One of my favorite classes in University was an advanced statistics course. It is really true. You can make statistics say whatever you want them to say. That’s kind of frightening due to the fact that most people see a percentage and accept as gospel.
Cody said,
December 26, 2007 at 10:34 am
Those numbers may have not been legitimately researched, but as a pastor I would say 4 of the 7 are true for me. I’ve been burned out, felt unqualified, depressed, and usually only read the Bible when preparing a sermon. So whether or not the numbers are “scientific” they are real to me.
Writing this makes me think about your post on burnout. I feel this way because the place where other Christians go to be refilled and refreshed, is where I work. So where do I go to get refilled? A conference once a year? Also where do I go to build relationships outside of the pastor/member relationships? I don’t say these things as “whoa is me”, but just as a thought into why I feel the things mentioned above.
tony said,
December 26, 2007 at 10:43 am
“97% of christians get 80% of their stats from unreliable sources, and 73% of them will pass it on as truth. and yes, that whole sentence was a bunch of bull. christians like info porn!”
uh - another sin tied to the first one. the first being lying about the #’s, the second is gossip to spread the lies
sounds a lot like sunday morning
Anna said,
December 26, 2007 at 11:27 am
I would say that not just Christians, but people in general spread stats that may or may not be true.
stephen said,
December 26, 2007 at 11:32 am
anne! don’t ruin it for us by publishing less shocking statistics. we like the numbers the way they are. it gives me a feeling of superiority that i’m still in ministry, still married, never had an affair, etc. i mean, come on….look at the odds i’m beating!
Mike said,
December 26, 2007 at 11:42 am
Having been a Psychology major in college, I know the importance of statistics and how they are often misused… I always say you cant trust a study until you study it… How many people who quote statistics ever bother to check how they were gathered? I find even many published authors publish statistics from biased sources or that were not gathered properly… Then again, the point is to sell books, so why do people like Anne Coulter care about the truth?
Mike
John Ireland said,
December 26, 2007 at 11:53 am
not sure when or due to what, but it has been a while since i put much faith in such stats; and, other stats…
maybe i’ve become a bit jaded, but i tend to ask myself, “who are the researchers? what are their qualifications? do they have an agenda? what were the indedendent variables?”
i suspect some legitimate info is getting lost amidst the swarm of junk…:)
how was your Christmas? enjoy the mavs game!
John Ireland said,
December 26, 2007 at 12:03 pm
or, some might say, “independent variables”…:)
Kyle P. said,
December 26, 2007 at 12:12 pm
It’s not just Christians. The medical profession is inundated with info porn. Just look at those crazy drug commercials on TV. “85% of Americans suffer from being being right-handed. New Ambidex can correct this. Talk to your doctor about this serious problem and how Ambidex can correct it.”
Scott Williams said,
December 26, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Thanks for the info………
laura said,
December 26, 2007 at 12:47 pm
i just had to laugh when i saw that.
AT LAST SOMEONE LISTENS! haha.
so I’m in statistics for math this year. and as much as i dislike it, i’ve learned to question every statistic thrown at me until the provider tells me how they designed the experiment, what determined their sample of people, what questions were asked, etc.
and my parents and sister just laugh at me when i “talk” to the TV that generally tosses these stats at me.
it’s so true though! you can make a statistic out of anything.
Greg Johnson said,
December 26, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Great post Anne and an awesome title for it. Thanks for doing the research on the FOF propaganda prior to passing it on as gospel. You are a great example to the rest of us!
Know that you are loved,
gaj
Melinda said,
December 26, 2007 at 2:28 pm
I heartily agree with you on this!
BryonM said,
December 26, 2007 at 4:26 pm
I’m glad you posted this. Christian Urban Legend is often treated as chapter and verse, never to be challenged unless you want to be burned at the stake as a heretic. Or called emergent.
Ryan H said,
December 26, 2007 at 4:55 pm
Thanks Ann!! I’ve actually heard those stats in a ton of sermons…it’s amazing what we’ll believe just because it has a percentage behind it…
Joni said,
December 26, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Amen sister. And there is also the think tank of highly knowledgeable people called “They” to contend with. As is “they say…”
jimmy paravane said,
December 27, 2007 at 9:16 am
Alien statistics not taken as gospel? Marketing Christianity a bad thing? These are not the holiday headlines I was hoping to read. Guess I’ll have to reconsider putting those adlinks to holy huggable talking plushdoll Jesus on the ole blogsite…
the mungle said,
December 27, 2007 at 11:02 am
That is why I try to be as pro-porn as possible. To even out the stats. :-)
dan ohlerking said,
December 27, 2007 at 12:46 pm
15% of me thinks this is really a great post, 73% of me thinks thinks it may be the best post i’ve read in a long time, and 12% of me just needed to say thanks for writing this.
and 100% of me affirms that the above statistics are scientifically accurate.
great thoughts, sister.
Joylene said,
December 27, 2007 at 4:22 pm
well, it’s good to be reminded that things may not be as bleak as they sometimes seem!
and you all are funny!
mike foster said,
December 28, 2007 at 12:56 am
as Bart Simpson once so profoundly said…”You can make up statistics for anything. 14% of all people know that.”
i remember a few years ago i stopped stating statistics when i spoke about the porn industry and the size of the problem/industry because with a little research you realize the stats are pretty much complete crap and not accurate.
Randy said,
December 31, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Mark Driscoll gave those stats in a sermon on Corinthians. Don’t remember the exact title. Something about Praying for Pastors.
Kevin D. Hendricks said,
January 16, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Amen, Anne. I said basically the same thing about the exact same stats a few years ago on Church Marketing Sucks. Glad you were able to track down a little more info and confirm, as we suspected, that those stats aren’t legit.
And Mike Foster, I believe it was Homer Simpson who said the quote about statistics, not Bart. And 14% of all people know that! (i.e., geeks like me)