How to choose a sample

There is a series of conversations that get repeated on this site over and over.

Person A: Player X is horrible/great. Look at how he's performed in the following date range?

Person B: Why did you choose that date range? (looks for himself) Oh, I see. He hit for the cycle/a golden sombrero the day before.

-or-

Person A: Over the past Y weeks, player X has been on hot/cold streak.

Person B: THAT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING!

Person A: I'm not saying anything about it, I'm just noticing a streak. I'm not a bad person.

It's a lot of work to go through every single case and argue whether the person posting a stat is being responsible or not. I'm tired. So I've tried to make a general solution for all questions of sample size and propriety. Follow this handy, dandy flow chart, and you won't be in the wrong (click to enlarge).

There you go. Now let's all be champs.

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