[Vision2020] Statistics
John Moss
johnmoss@moscow.com
Thu, 15 May 2003 22:50:51 -0700
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Citizens and mathematicians,
In a recent e-mail to Mr. Arnold, Mr. Nieuwsma asked Mr. Arnold to back =
up his statement that "5,000 people are killed every year in this =
country by guns, and most of them were accidents by people that were =
careless and irresponsible." This is a fair request to make.
Over the last week, we have seen a plethera of appeals to statistics to =
prove a point. Mr. Courtney states that MSD's student-to-teacher ratio =
is 15.22, and then Mr. Kaag states that "very few teachers in this =
district are teaching 15.22 students." And Mr. Arnold presents us a =
statistic about careless deaths caused by guns, and then Mr. Nieuwsma =
presents us statisics of guns used in self-defense.
If possible, when appealing to a statistic on this forum, could you =
please try to state where the statistic came from?
As my earlier quip noted, anyone can make up statistics that sound good. =
And, yes, other statistics are valid. So when using statisics, please =
do your best to validate them.
Thank you all,
John Moss
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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Citizens and m<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: =
'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: =
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<DIV><FONT size=3D+0><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>In a recent e-mail to =
Mr. Arnold, Mr.=20
Nieuwsma asked Mr. Arnold to back up his statement that "5,000 people =
are killed=20
every year in this country by guns, and most of them were accidents by =
people=20
that were careless and irresponsible." This is a fair request to=20
make.</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Over the last week, we have seen a =
plethera of=20
appeals to statistics to prove a point. Mr. Courtney states that =
MSD's=20
student-to-teacher ratio is 15.22, and then Mr. Kaag states that "very =
few=20
teachers in this district are teaching 15.22 students." And =
</FONT><FONT=20
face=3DArial size=3D2>Mr. Arnold presents us a statistic about careless =
deaths=20
caused by guns, and then Mr. Nieuwsma presents us statisics of guns used =
in=20
self-defense.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>If possible, when appealing to a =
statistic on this=20
forum, could you please try to state where the statistic came =
from?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>As my earlier quip noted, anyone can =
make up=20
statistics that sound good. And, yes, other statistics are =
valid. So=20
when using statisics, please do your best to validate them.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Thank you all,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>John =
Moss</FONT></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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