Politics - My Take

In today's capitalist driven world, there are only few strategies / tactics used to make an aggressive marketing / sale pitch. They are quite straight forward if we take a second before accepting. However life is not simple.

Here is one of them : Using PERCENTAGE(%) which is the concerned number over total number.

The important point to not forget is the "total number" or the sample size considered.

For example:

1. 8 men (our concerned number) of 10 men (Sample Size - total number) are having AIDS - this is 8/10 - 80% -
2. 80000 men (our concerned number) of 100000 men ( Sample Size - total number) are of height 5'10" - this again is 80%.

In the first example, 10 - a very very insignificant number when compared to populations hence one really SHOULD NOT panic. If this number is masked and 80% of men have AIDS promotes/rings a totally different meaning to the story - which is UNETHICAL - A capitalist is NOT bothered. We have to be bothered to know the truth and take the right decision. NOT fall prey to exploitation of any sort.

I hope you got the illusion PERCENTAGE can give out.

The % usage will NOT reflect the true sample size and how much effort has been put to get the statistic.
Hence this statistic is mostly commonly used in the media circles and health circles to market their findings however small they are and how ever unreliable they are. The current topic of interest is: SWINE FLU Statistic.

Bottom line: Dont believe in percentage values in ANY headings - Devil is always in the detail - REMEMBER.