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The article discusses how retailers alter prices to tempt consumers. Apparel store Gap Inc. found consumers more receptive to prices cut in half than they were to signs advertising 50% off. Research shows that consumers are apt to spend more when they can see or are in the vicinity of relatively expensive items.

The article discusses the efficacy of superstitious beliefs. Researchers at the University of Cologne found that golfers told they were playing with a "lucky ball" performed markedly better at putting than others. Other, similar examples are also discussed. Biostatistician Peter Thall notes that believing in incantations, prayers, and such gives people the sense of having more control over their lives.

Highlights the career of several Olympic Games gold medalists, including Bob Mathias and Nadia Comaneci.

Reports that cellphone users will be allowed to keep their phone numbers, called "number portability," even when they switch service providers. Number of cellphone users in the U.S., suggesting that this is a big change in the way cellphone service companies will work to retain customers; Percentage of wireless customers that switch providers yearly; Promotional tools being offered by providers to retain customers; Deals being offered by Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA Inc., Sprint PCS and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. to retain customers.

Reports that Internet service providers are giving users so-called acceleration services designed to speed up dial-up connections to the Internet. Cost of broadband access to the Internet, suggesting the accelerated dial-up service is a cheaper alternative; Percentage of Americans who are unable to get broadband because the infrastructure is not totally in place; Comparison of accelerated dial-up and traditional dial-up; How companies plan to sell and market the accelerated services; Percentage of U.S. households that have broadband, indicating a wide market still available for dial-up service.

Answers several hypothetical questions that individuals may have in light of recent lawsuits filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) against several individuals accused of copyright infringement. Number of individuals engaged in online file-sharing services, suggesting that the chances of any one individual being sued are slim; Statement that the number of songs downloaded is the determinant of whether an individual may be sued; Potential penalties if sued; Details of the amnesty program offered by the RIAA; How the companies caught individuals.

The article presents graphs of information on several topics including time spent on household chores by mothers and fathers in the U.S. during 2010, online retail sales in the U.S. on the first Monday after Thanksgiving Day in 2012, and the average margin of victory since 2010 in games played by teams in the National Football League's West division.

The article discusses the correlation between the frequency of family dinners and substance abuse in teens, with information on family values, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASAColumbia), and comments from Professor Daniel P. Miller of Boston University.

Charts and diagrams are presented on various topics including an international survey on satisfaction with quality of life, U.S. home ownership rates and the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament.

The article discusses the challenges for nutritionists of answering questions related to nutrition, the role of statisticians in helping to analyze and understand nutritional data, and statistics on nutrition according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Healthy Eating Index.

A chart showing the global vaccination rates for children by immunization types, a map of the U.S. showing fourth-grade mathematics and reading scores, by state, since 2003, and a chart showing the number of National Basketball Association (NBA) players that have won the NBA's most valuable player (MVP) award four or more times are presented.

In this article the author discusses a 2013 decision by the Chinese government to relax its one-child policy including the social, political, and psychological impacts of more reproductive freedom and how limits on childbirth have skewed Chinese society.

The article offers the perspective that electronic review of sports officials' calls is not infallible when it comes to determining if the player or official is right and notes there is a recognized margin of error for Hawk-Eye company's camera system that is used in tennis.

The article presents charts and diagrams on several topics including public opinion in the U.S. about legalized marijuana, the fraction of developed land in European Union countries, and the success of professional sports teams in selected U.S. cities at winning championships.

The article focuses on the performance of tennis player Rafael Nadal who has won the French Open eight times as of November 2013 but has never won the Paris Masters tournament.

The article discusses a study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign that found workers at fast-food restaurants, and their families, receive at least $7 billion a year in public benefits to supplement their wages.

The article presents graphs of statistics pertaining to obesity rates in the U.S. from 2000 to 2012, the percentage of graduates who marry fellow graduates at colleges such as Michigan Technological University, and U.S. states that produce active players in the National Football League.

The article looks at an effort by the Caribbean Community intergovernmental group, in conjunction with British law firm Leigh Day, to bring a claim for slave-trade reparations from Great Britain, the Netherlands, and France, as of 2013, discussing the complications of estimating the monetary harms.

Several charts and maps are presented including a map of the world showing the biggest gainers and losers in international tourism revenue from 1995-2011, a chart showing the number of unique visitors by computer per month from October 2004-December 2012 to several online social networking sites, such as Twitter, and a chart showing the ranking points of five male professional tennis players, such as Roger Federer.

The article discusses the polarization of the U.S. Congress in 2013, a method devised in the 1980s by political scientists Keith Poole and Howard Rosenthal to measure it, and a debate among political scientists over whether partisanship in the 21st century is the worst it's ever been.

The article looks at important dates related to a potential U.S. federal budget default, noting that the U.S. Treasury has stated that Congress must extend the government's borrowing authority by October 17, 2013 to prevent dire consequences, while Republican legislators give a date of November 1.

Charts and diagrams are presented for October 5, 2013 on topics such as U.S. public opinion on politicians after the 2008 presidential election, the importance of saving money while shopping to people in countries such as China, Canada, and the U.S., and wins for baseball teams the Red Sox, Yankees, and Cardinals.

The article discusses the economic impact of the U.S. government shutdown as of October 5, 2013 and also the White House's Office of Management's estimated cost of a government shutdown in 1996.

Charts are presented on various topics including the number of U.S. speakers of foreign languages as a first language from 1980-2010, on the percentage of U.S. residents obtaining the recommended amount of physical activity and of rankings of college football teams in Texas.

The author discusses the limitations of economic modeling in predicting the costs and impact of the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act health insurance legislation known as Obamacare as of September 28, 2013, focusing on microsimulations, health insurance exchanges, and the comments of the economist Christine Eibner.

The article discusses the U.S. poverty measure that was devised by the economist Mollie Orshansky, focusing on problems with the measure in accounting for U.S. poverty as well as potential challenges in reforming the measure to account for factors such as regional variations in 2013.

The author discusses the potential role of statistics in debates concerning whether the U.S. should respond to chemical attacks in Syria that have allegedly occurred as of September 2013, focusing on statistics concerning death counts and public opinion concerning chemical weapons.

Charts and diagrams are presented on topics including the use of prescription sleep drugs, on workers' compensation in U.S. states and on baseball attendance.

The article cites widely differing estimates for the incidence of sexual assault in the U.S. from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics in the course of discussing why official government figures on rape may not be accurate.

The article looks at men's professional tennis as of August 2013, focusing on long-time top player Roger Federer, discussing the desire of younger players to have an opportunity to compete against him before he retires and previewing the upcoming U.S. Open tennis championship.

The article discusses Sam Barnett, a hedge-fund manager and doctoral student in finance at Northwestern University who also plays tennis on the ATP Challenger Tour, and is ranked 1,223rd in the world among doubles players.

The article discusses various reasons why estimates of the number of deaths attributed to heat during the warm summer months are likely in error, among them the fact that heat sometimes gets blamed for those who die of ailments that heat exacerbates.

The article presents charts that convey information about unemployment among those between the ages of 15 and 24 in several countries, growth in the number of U.S. households without subscription-television service, and differences among nations in acceptance of homosexuality.

The article considers the questionable accuracy of lists that rank entities according to essentially unquantifiable criteria, such as an annual list of the top party colleges in the U.S. compiled by college-guide producer Princeton Review.

Charts are presented on topics including the impact of college students on the poverty rate in selected U.S. cities, the impact of names given infants of Great Britain's royal family on baby names in that country and a survey on physical activity in Great Britain since the 2102 Olympic Games.

The article discusses a statistic reported in August 2013 that the Detroit, Michigan police department takes an average of 58 minutes to respond to emergency calls, reporting that a closer examination of the statistic finds that the police respond quickly to violent crime but less quickly to property crimes.

The article presents in graphical format statistics related to public opinion in the U.S. about morality and belief in God, taxation of cigarettes around the world, and the performance of the various wickets during the 2013 cricket match between England and Australia.

The article discusses why museums frequently do a poor job of estimating how many people will visit a given exhibit or a proposed new building.

The article presents statistical graphs on a number of topics including pubic opinion in the U.S. on selected occupations, why readers don't finish books they start, and the performance of golfer Tiger Woods in major golf tournaments since 2009.

The article notes that gamblers in England have overwhelmingly bet that the first child of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge will be a girl, and discusses factors that seem to exert a measure of influence on an infant's gender.

The article presents assorted statistical data including a graph that tracks airplane fatalities from 1983 to 2011, odds that bookmakers have assigned to various first names for the first child of Great Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton, and a chart related to the hosting of games in Major League Baseball's World Series.

The article discusses various factors including injuries and scandals that help account for the uncertainty in estimating a professional athlete's lifetime earnings, with commentary presented about the circumstances of golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Andy Murray.

The article presents statistics published during the week of July 6, 2013 on topics including the percentage of women in various age groups that have been victims of intimate violence, the sale of sugar-sweetened drinks between 2006 and 2011 in schools, and the average speed of Tour de France cyclists.

The article discusses the results of a study which found that Americans do not wash their hands according to recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and examining the effectiveness of the CDC's hand-washing recommendations.

The article discusses the 2013 Wimbledon tennis tournament, with information on the average number of unforced errors per player, official scoring practices by Wimbledon scorers, and comments on errors by tennis players Novak Djokovic and Agnieszka Radwanska.

The author discusses the potential influence of 2013 economic forecasts from the U.S. Congressional Budget Office on the acceptance of proposed immigration reform legislation, reporting that some economists question the accuracy of the long-term economic forecasts.

The article presents information on top-ranked male tennis players as of June 2013, with a focus on the 2013 Wimbledon tennis tournament, the performance of the British tennis player Andy Murray, and statistics on professional tennis players from Great Britain.

The article considers the record at the age of 28 in National Basketball Association (NBA) playoff games of NBA player LeBron James relative to those of rival Kobe Bryant and former NBA player Michael Jordan at similar stages of their careers.

The author notes that media-advocacy groups Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists both rank Turkey as the world leader in terms of the number of journalists it has jailed, and discusses why that figure is not necessarily a good indicator of a country's media freedom. INSET: Oppressing the Press.

The article presents sports news on the scheduling of top tennis players such as Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Roger Federer at the 2013 Wimbledon tournament in England and the announcement that golfer Tiger Woods would miss the AT&T National charity tournament in Maryland due to elbow strain.