Warren Sarle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Telling the Truth About Damned Lies and Statistics
> By JOEL BEST
[snip]
> So the prospectus began with this (carefully footnoted) quotation: "Every year
> since 1950, the number of American children gunned down has doubled." I had
> been invited to serve on the student's dissertation committee. When I read the
> quotation, I assumed the student had made an error in copying it. I went to the
> library and looked up the article the student had cited. There, in the
> journal's 1995 volume, was exactly the same sentence: "Every year since 1950,
> the number of American children gunned down has doubled."
> This quotation is my nomination for a dubious distinction: I think it may be
> the worst -- that is, the most inaccurate -- social statistic ever.
I'm reminded of the bragging Scientologist who claimed that his particular
"org" had at least quadrupled its membership every year since 1954.
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