• otp@sh.itjust.works
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      9 months ago

      Yeah, it’s funny when people from rural areas hop onto social media and start sharing their talking points about crimes in left-leaning cities…and then someone explains “per capita” to them.

      Some urban areas will still have higher per capita rates than some rural areas, but it’s funny when people try to share raw numbers of crimes as if population didn’t matter.

      • remotelove@lemmy.ca
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        9 months ago

        Statistics suck. It’s not because they might be inaccurate, it’s because they are so easy to misinterpret. “Per capita” is wildly misunderstood or ignored. It’s all about presentation, IMHO.

        Number-fuck example:

        • Only 5% of the US population is _____ so it’s irrelevant.
        • There are 16.7 million people in the US that are _____ and presents a massive problem.

        Same numbers, different context.