The term is based on the perceived process of harvesting fruit, such as cherries. The picker would be expected to only select the ripest and healthiest fruits. An observer who only sees the selected fruit may thus wrongly conclude that most, or even all, of the fruit is in such good condition.
Cherry picking can be found in many logical fallacies. For example, the "fallacy of anecdotal evidence" tends to overlook large amounts of data in favor of that known personally.
Example:
In a study conducted by professionals, over ten thousand people reported that they were dissatisfied with President Obama's healthcare plan.Sources
There's abundant proof that drinking water cures cancer. Just last week I read about a girl who was dying of cancer. After drinking water she was cured.
Dell makes faulty computers. Every person I know who has a Dell computer has had nothing but problems.
Smoking does not cause lung cancer. My grandfather smoked every day until he was 90 and he's fine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_picking
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