Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Dog Bites Man
If you're a statistically challenged noob at the Associate Press, this is news:
In other words, small towns under 25,000 aren't doing their fair share of the dying.
The data completely undercut the basis of the article - if anything, residents of towns of less than 25,000 are statistically underrepresented among the dead. (The number of wounded would be a much more reliable indicator - a single incident impacting a reserve unit from a small town can throw the results a lot more when N is 3000 than when N is 15,000.)
The headline: "Small towns bearing burden of war in Iraq."
Splash, out
Jason
(Hat tip: BlackFive)
Across the nation, small towns are quietly bearing the war's burden. Nearly half of the more than 3,100 U.S. military fatalities in Iraq have come from towns like McKeesport, where fewer than 25,000 people live, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. One in five hailed from hometowns of fewer than 5,000.
The Census Bureau said 56 percent of the population in 2005 lived in towns under 25,000 and in unincorporated areas, but it could not provide the number of people living only in communities of fewer than 25,000.
In other words, small towns under 25,000 aren't doing their fair share of the dying.
The data completely undercut the basis of the article - if anything, residents of towns of less than 25,000 are statistically underrepresented among the dead. (The number of wounded would be a much more reliable indicator - a single incident impacting a reserve unit from a small town can throw the results a lot more when N is 3000 than when N is 15,000.)
The headline: "Small towns bearing burden of war in Iraq."
Splash, out
Jason
(Hat tip: BlackFive)
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