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The Miseducation of Survey's
News stories based on surveys, polls, studies and statistics are everywhere. Wouldn't it be good to have the mental agility to separate the wheat from the chaff? In the first of a weekly series, author Michael Blastland gives some hints at getting to grips with surveys.
Lesson one: Surveys.
The story: "Motorists turn to public transport as fuel price bites" - Daily Record
"MORE than three in five drivers are turning to public transport due to high fuel prices, a survey has revealed. The survey by transport firm National Express found 61 per cent of car users are definitely or probably considering using public transport due to the rise in prices at the pumps."
The flaw: Suckered by a press release. This story gives the impression that motorists are leaving their cars at home, en masse, for - guess what? - services run by the company that did the survey. In fact, the surveyed motorists are not necessarily doing anything. They are "definitely or probably" thinking about doing something - which they might eventually do once, or often, or never.
The Lesson: Two points. The survey has apparently bundled together the more and the less inclined, the definites and the probables, so that we have no idea if only 1% of the 61% are definites, or if most are. And it gives no indication of how big a change in behaviour they are considering - every trip… or just one.
The second point is to wonder what it means to say you are "probably" thinking about something. Are they thinking that they will probably do it, but haven't made up their minds? Maybe it means they are not sure what they are thinking, but if they had to guess what they are thinking then it would "probably" be something about petrol. Maybe it doesn't mean anything.
And are they actually doing it, as the headline suggests? No idea. News stories based on surveys, polls, studies and statistics are everywhere. Wouldn't it be good to have the mental agility to se... more -
Darwinism PWNED!!! The stupidity and delusion of evolution
Supposedly evolutionists have been hard at work for years "perfecting" their "theory" advocating it as fact that demand dissidents be ridiculed for, while they dismiss every other theory of origins for a staunchly atheist viewpoint to science. I think it's utter and fantastic bs. And you can see it here.... Watch this "evolutionist" and you'll see a liar trying to figure out in 11 seconds of silence how to BS his way out of a simple question that evolution depends on, and on which he was even writing a book about at the time!
Don't be cowed into evolution, just because the educational institutions aren't allowed the freedom to differ for the truth. Think for yourselves... don't let "educated" idiots tell you what to think....
Think about it... Think about it... Erase the slate and...
THINK...as if you have a brain you didn't inherit from some monkey. Supposedly evolutionists have been hard at work for years "perfecting" their "theory" advocating it as fact that d... more -
Daughter doesn't get GED, Dad gets jail time
First of all, this girl is eighteen (an adult) and I didn't realize it was illegal to not graduate from high school. Why should her dad be punished for his daughter's mistakes? Even the girl takes responsibility: "It was my wrongdoing, not his... he shouldn't have to go to jail for something I did."
What is the judicial branch coming to?
Organized schooling isn't for everyone!
Article:
CINCINNATI - A man ordered by a judge to make sure his daughter studied has found himself in jail because she failed to earn a high school equivalency diploma.
Brian Gegner, who lives near Cincinnati, was sentenced last week to 180 days in jail for contributing to the unruliness or delinquency of a minor.
He was ordered months ago to make sure his 18-year-old daughter Brittany Gegner, who has a history of truancy, received the diploma known as GED — something that hasn't happened yet.
Brittany Gegner, who said Monday that she plans to take a required GED test this month, said her father shouldn't be blamed for her failure because she has been living with her mother.
"It was my wrongdoing, not his," said Brittany Gegner, whose fiance and 18-month-old daughter also live at her mother's home. "He shouldn't have to go to jail for something I did."
Her mother agrees.
"Brittany is almost 19 years old now and I think it's unfair to put her father in jail," said Shana Roach. "She's an adult now, and it's not right to rip an innocent man from his home."
Juvenile Court administrator Rob Clevenger Jr. said Monday that the court still has jurisdiction in the case because Brittany Gegner was a juvenile when the truancy problems began and when the charge against Brian Gegner was filed in 2007.
A hearing on a motion filed by Brian Gegner's attorney to reconsider the sentence is scheduled for Friday. Messages seeking comment were not returned Monday at the offices of defense attorney Tamara Sack and the prosecutor.
Brian Gegner's wife, Stephanie Gegner, said she and her husband are afraid he will lose his job if he remains in jail. She said they tried to keep his daughter in school.
"You'd take her to school and she'd go out the other door," Stephanie Gegner said. First of all, this girl is eighteen (an adult) and I didn't realize it was illegal to not graduate from high school. Why should h... more -
The Education of John McCain
"As the GOP debates whether John McCain is sufficiently Reaganesque, here's a point in the senator's favor: Like the Gipper, he doesn't consider education a top presidential priority. Indeed, McCain has said very little about the subject on the campaign trail, and his website barely touches it."
Bring on a New Reagan era! "As the GOP debates whether John McCain is sufficiently Reaganesque, here's a point in the senator's favor: Like the Gi... more
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Miseducation
