Cherry-picking
Also called: Selective evidence
Showing only the evidence that supports your case, and leaving out the rest.
How to spot it
Ask what the whole picture looks like. What was left out, and why?
Example
“Sales rose 20% in March!” (They fell in the other eleven months.)
How to answer it
Ask for the full data, or the full period, not just the favourable part.
Related
- Hasty generalization: Drawing a broad conclusion from too few or unrepresentative examples.
- Correlation is not causation: Assuming that two things which move together must have a cause-and-effect link.
- Survivorship bias: Judging by the examples that survived and forgetting those that didn't.