Fun with statistics

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It's leap day and by rights I can get the day off from blogging, according to Blog365. But it strikes me as so boring! I love daily updates on all the blogs I read so I can't let my own readers miss out!

The proposed law change in Norway to give gays marriage rights equal to those of straights has prompted some sheriff somewhere south in the country to claim that gays getting married will mean an increased crime rate in Norway. Never mind that the crime rate has been rising for quite some time now. One commentor to the debate posted this amusing comeback to the fallacy of seeing a correlation between trends simply because they happen at the same time:

  • Before the Christian People's Party was formed, there were far fewer divorces
  • A rise in the price of housing in Norway gives Norway more Olympic gold medals
  • An increase in the Moslem population in Norway gives Norway more chances at getting Olympic gold medals
  • More asthmatics means more criminals
  • A higher average in education level means fewer newspapers sold
  • A decrease in church attendance means increased longevity

(My translation; plucked from here)

Comments

Sparkling Red said…
Oh Keera. You're a funny bunny. You spent all week saying "I wish this were my day off from blogging - I can't wait!" and now it's Feb 29th and you've posted. Well, me too. ;-)

I love the statistics. :-)
February 29, 2008 10:08 PM
Keera Ann Fox said…
LOL! I am nothing if not inconsistent. ;-)
March 01, 2008 10:57 AM
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