> Why does his intent matter unless you think the data is being skewed or misrepresented?
Because the data can be cherry-picked, intentionally or un-intentionally, similar to https://xkcd.com/882/
If you believe a trend exists (or just want to find evidence for it for other reasons) and you keep looking for statistical evidence of it, you're going to find it.
Yes for sure, but no conclusions were drawn. No summary or opinion was posited.
Of course results can be skewed. Seems unlikely in this case, but it's easy enough to verify. I mean if I was going to criticize the data, I'd probably just verify it myself first, and then question intent. Thinking about it, I could verify post counts for a hand full of these pretty easily using the dev console. No one even questioned the data though, it was more along the lines of; what's the hidden agenda...
Because the data can be cherry-picked, intentionally or un-intentionally, similar to https://xkcd.com/882/
If you believe a trend exists (or just want to find evidence for it for other reasons) and you keep looking for statistical evidence of it, you're going to find it.