Not at Oregon State University apparently. Eugene Volokh has the gory details.
According to a press release issued by the Women’s Center, 2,000 rapes occur every five minutes.
Huh -- 2,000 rapes every five minutes. That would mean 2000 x (60/5) x 24 x 365 = 200 million rapes a year (presumably in the U.S.). Many people underestimate the frequency of rape. Still, one would hope that it doesn't happen 200 million times a year; at least a little bit of multiplication should have alerted the writer and the editor that something was wrong.
By the way. Next time you read some stats in the MSM and they sound a tad bizarre, apply skepticism. Sometimes our reporters is not learning in the same fashion.....
For a great book on the falacies of statistics in the media, try John Allen Paulos' book "A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper". It's a collection of very readable essays for the layman - I highly recommend it. You can find out more in the reviews section of the book at Amazon.
Posted by: Curmudgeon | Monday, January 30, 2006 at 01:32 PM