This is what Joel Best wrote in The Chronicle of Higher Education, 4 May 2001 This quotation is my nomination for a dubious distinction: I think it may be the worst (that is, the most inaccurate) social statistic ever. Let's assume that the number of American children gunned down in 1950 is one. If the number doubled each year, there must have been two children gunned down in 1951, four in 1952, 8 in 1953, and so on. By 1970 the number would have passed one million. The Center's Position: This is obviously impossible and the unnamed writer should have done this quick check to see that the statement clearly needed editing. |
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