Forecasting Box Office With Twitter

We recently conducted a phone survey and found a 100% correlation between people we called and people who have access to phones. Research also indicates that (a) the number of four-masted sailing ships carrying pirates has declined in every year since daylight savings time was instituted, (b) 4 out of 5 doctors surveyed recommend Crest, and (c) 74% of all statistics quoted in articles like this are made up on the spot.

Yes, there’s a great deal of fun to be had with questionable numbers—aka “lies, damn lies, and statistics.” And yet, when you look at what appears to be statistical jibber jabber, you can sometimes find a nugget of actionable truth…