Ed Huntress" wrote in message
t...
"PrecisionMachinisT" wrote in message
...



Heh.......

But what this all has to do with the price of tea in China is *all* I
wanna to know.

Gunner posted a quote from some blog to the effect that the US has much
less
total crime than major European countries, based on Interpol reports. It
isn't so, which is what the discussion has been about ever since.


Well, Duhh......I knew that all along, Ed.

Its all about attempting to correlate two or more sets of facts or
statistics that are at often best remotely connected so as to represent a
single "fact" in order to promote some agenda.

Kirk said it quite well IMO.........

Suppose, for instance, one set of data is gathered as to the price
fluctuations of tea in China over a period of time.

Another set of data is gathered concerning deadly automobile accidents in
the USA over the same time frame.......

Suppose further, when one chart moved positive, the other moved negatively
more or less, and did so throughout several cycles over the time period.

Would this mean there is a definite correlation between the two data sets
???

Why, of course not !!!

But in fact, it is exactly this type of ( Faulty ) statistical comparison
that is *very* frequently used, and presented in order to sway people's
opinion on any number of topics and agendas..........it is simply one area
where statistics and probability cross the line from being legitimate tools,
useful for scientific analysis into the realm of being nothing other than
pure propaganda.

--

SVL