zlacker

I'm not talking about "drawing conclusions from a single point of data". I'm talking about using single points of data to interrogate the completeness and correctness of your data.

>>cyborg+(OP)
The problem I see is that a lot (I believe) of people still do this, even if you and I don't.

I guess I'll contradict myself with the anecdote (I recognize this is totally not representative). I've heard a lot of stories about how "they do this and that, somewhere" based on a news about some single case. Some make sense, but also lots of variants of vaccines and autism stories (mostly, regarding modern politics, so I don't want to describe anything in particular).

>>cyborg+(OP)
You’re correct that the approach can be misused. However, it’s also worth thinking of it like a “persona” in product design. When used correctly the journalist has the data, the data tell a story, the journalist chooses a subject that personifies the story so people care to read about it.