Skewed stats, manipulated stats, biased stats etc etc etc....
Did you ever wonder why people don't say that about mere opinions?
I am going to answer you based on the fact you are actually looking to understand human psyche and simply not playing around.
There are 4 things in any argument.
Opinion, Delusions, Statistics and Dishonesty.
Firstly, opinions are opinions. They are completely subjective and depends on the person uttering the opinions. They might have some evidence based on events but they are not embedded in stone. For instance, you could say my opinion is Babar greater than Tendulkar because of x, y and z. It would be your opinion and your right to have it. It may very well be a false opinion. It might not even have any credibility or weight because it is against everything you see on the cricket pitch. But it is still an opinion.
What is the difference between opinion and delusion? When facts show it is not the case but a person still clings on to his beliefs and opinions because of whatever reason. Multiple conflicting evidence could be offered but the person would stick to his beliefs. For instance, you could say Babar Azam greater than Tendulkar because of x, y and z and even if a and b evidence is presented to counter that claim, you still cling to the belief that Babar > Tendulkar. That is classic example of delusion.
Thirdly, Statistics.
Statistics are neither biased, misconstrued, or manipulated or skewed. They are just a bunch of figures that if you put in a certain place, you arrive at an end result. The "operator behind the stats" is the person who is biased about the "type of output he wants from the stats". If he wants a certain result he can manipulate the stats to show the type of result he wants.
For example, Babar > Tendulkar because of x, y and z but a and b is presented to counter that claim, the person presents variable c which is the only variable that MIGHT make Babar = Tendulkar in a certain specified condition and setting. Next is to present the result in such a way that people only look at variable C and forget about A and B and suddenly lo and behold Babar = Tendulkar.
Finally dishonesty. This is completely operator dependent. After presented the statistics in the way that Variable C takes precedence and establishing statistical superiority of C, we introduce a variable D which would put variable C+D combined to be better than original claim. This variable is often very weak but has to be put because the "operator was looking for a certain end result and he had to statistically alter his studies in a certain way to make sure that original claim was completely valid and not dependent on C only.
For example Babar = Tendulkar in setting C (ignoring settings A and B) , but during a certain timeframe C+D combined was better than the original claim. This would mean Babar is for instance better than Tendulkar in UAE pitches and then add variable D (Babar at 25 had better average than Tendulkar at 25) and hence proven that Babar > Tendulkar.
In short,
Opinions - Subjective with some evidence which can either be false or true.
Delusions - Subjective and contrary to factual evidence and persist despite evidence pointing otherwise.
Statistics - Evidence based collections of facts and figures that operator uses to get an end result (unless they are double blind or triple blind).
Dishonesty - Evidence based collections of facts and figures that are manipulated to get an end result.
I hope that clears it up.
