Lies, damned lies and statistics

[Tizer]

The text of the Guardian article contains a more balanced interpretation than the graphic shows: `The 2,715 penalties issued to 2,585 students represent just 0.015% out of more than 18m exam entries. In 2016, a total of 2,180 students were caught, a rate of 0.011%.'

[plaques]

Remembering my old student days, all pre calculator, you could use your own slide rule, generally the log, log, type and if you were really up there at the cutting edge of technology it could have various other slide functions on the back. Any rules sporting formulie or equations were swapped for a bog standard stick which put you at a disadvantage. Log tables, and who remembers those, were supplied. Half your exam time was spent just number crunching which was just total nonsense really. Times have moved on for the better I think.

[PanBiker]

Non programmable calculators are allowed where the exam calls for it although case lids have to be removed and placed upside down on the floor as most have formulae cribs etc. If you mentioned log tables and slide rules to today's kids they wouldn't have a clue what you were talking about.

[Stanley]

Bit different than in my time 70 years ago........

[Stanley]

On the BBC News last night the announcer commented on the Iranian oil tanker fire and said the ship was carrying 'A million tons of light crude'. I don't think so! A bit of fact checking needed I think!
Later, I've done some fact checking for them, 136,000 tons seems to be a more credible figure. Bit of a difference!

[PanBiker]

The load is the equivalent of 1 Million or thereabouts barrels according to the reports today.

[Stanley]

I thought they'd perhaps done that, mixed up their barrels and tons. I heard an expert on tanker fires on R4 yesterday and he said that contrary to usual practice the least polluting option was to encourage it to burn.....

[Tizer]

Approximate figures...
1 barrel = 42 us gal = 138kg
1 million barrels = 138 million kg = 138,000 tonnes

It's a light oil that's more volatile than crude and can't be mopped up from the ocean surface in the usual way. It's also more toxic.

[Stanley]

[Tizer]

A comment by Stanley about GDP stats in the Bankers thread prompts me to relate something from the latest `More or Less' programme. We keep hearing that the UK economy now consists of about 80% services as opposed to industry/goods. We are often given the impression that these `services' are the finance businesses, especially those concentrated in the City of London. People begin to think that the London whizz kids are responsible for 80% of our economic output. More or Less looked into the figures and reports that finance accounts for only 10% of the services sector. The other 90% comprises things like the NHS, transport logistics, retailing etc. in fact the ONS states:
`The service sector is made up of service activities in retail, hotels, restaurants, transport, storage, IT, finance, insurance, real estate, administration and support services, professional, scientific and technical services, education, health, social work, arts, entertainment, recreation, public administration, defence etc.' LINK

[plaques]

The claim is that the current rise is attributable to the hot summer and the world cup. Most of this rise being in the service sector. I'm not sure how the world cup in Russia affects the GDP in the UK but If this is the case then Mrs May's proposal to boycott the event would have reduced the GDP. An alternative analysis is suggesting that companies are stockpiling their inventories in anticipation of a shortage of goods and hiccups in supply ie: an increase in GDP which in turn points to a reduction in GDP on leaving the EU.

[Tripps]

Mrs May's proposal to boycott the event

In fairness I don't recall that she proposed that the whole event be boycotted, - she just said that Ministers and the Royal Family would not attend.

World Cup

[plaques]

In fairness I don't recall that she proposed that the whole event be boycotted,

Tripps, I stand corrected. That is exactly what she said in parliament. But to quote the Express, always a mistake,
' .. Mrs May described Vladimir Putin’s disgraceful record of “state-sponsored assassination” – his licence to kill anyone who disrespects him.
Now our Football Association should immediately withdraw England from the 2018 World Cup, an event Putin wants only to glamorise his absolute power.'

Which raises the point, could the Russian suspects ever be put on trial in the UK given all the adverse newspaper coverage that 'they did it'?

[Stanley]

Putin would refuse to countenance a kangaroo court. Let's see, can I think of an example.......