Discussion»Questions»Books and Literature» Demographucs. In reading demographics one often sees some referemce like "3.5" people. A half a person? What is this?
People noticed, commented and laughed at the average family with 3.5 kids or so 40 years ago back in the 70s.
This post was edited by O-uknow at April 4, 2017 9:44 PM MDT
It is a statistical average. so it is not like any single family have one and a half child, just that the average number of kids people answering the survey said they had was 1.5
It is worth noting here that people with 10 or more kids are apt to hang up and not answer when some guy from Gallup phone and start asking such questions. They dont have time for such crap.
This post was edited by JakobA the unAmerican. at April 4, 2017 9:44 PM MDT
It comes from people being lazy in reporting statistics, quoting arithmetical means rather than the logical interpretation of the means: saying "three-point-five" when the reality is "three or four", or more accurately as well as logically, "35 in 100", i.e. 35%.
Oh, and someone please tell journalists the percent sign is available on the keyboard!
For a long time, the favourite in Britain described families as having "2.4 children".
Trouble is, it brings the research into disrepute, whether in demographics or in any other field.
This post was edited by Durdle at April 8, 2017 4:41 PM MDT
To me, it simply tells me that the normal curve is discontinuous and has discrete points---which in this case is indeed representative of the sample population.
Plus, you need to consider significant figures.
(I think you did indicate math was not your favorite subject.)
Benedict Arnold 