The headline for a story on June 30, page B6, reads, “Conn. stops minority drivers at higher rate.”
A computer data base is reported as giving figures for traffic stops of 84.5 percent whites, 14 percent black, “nearly” 12 percent Hispanic, and about 1.1 percent Asian.
Rounding off the numerically challenging terms “about” and “nearly” we get percentages of 84.5, 14, 12, and 1.1, which add up to 111.6 percent.
Since studies like this should add up to 100 percent I conclude that A. The computer program is messed up; B. The “researchers” are so driven by an agenda that they didn’t care how bogus their data is; C.
They expect most people to be so kneejerk reactionary or lazy that they don’t add the numbers. Maybe the headline should have read “Con in Conn. police study.”
Thomas Heyns
Chelsea
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.