jim clark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> in the journal's 1995 volume, was exactly the same sentence:
>> "Every year since 1950, the number of American children
>> gunned down has doubled."
>
>In the article he describes tracking down the original
>basis for the statistic. At some point, doubling _since_ 1950
>got translated into doubling every year since 1950.
This would appear to be an effect due to the fondness of Americans for
the word "every", which seems to get itself inserted unnecessarily into
"seven out of every ten statistical statements".
=================================================================
Instructions for joining and leaving this list and remarks about
the problem of INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES are available at
http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/
=================================================================
