When reading articles I often see statistics like 8 out of 10 people use this product. Or 4 of every 6 people are this way.
Why don’t they reduce the fractions to their lowest form? Isn’t it the same?
I don’t see much “4 out of 6” but I suppose with “8 out of 10” it is easier to relate this to 80% than it would be for “4 out of 5”. Same would be true with “85 out of 100” - easier than “17 out of 20”.
Always reduce. Always, always reduce.
Being a recent high school graduate, I know this. The most important thing I learned in HS, is “Always reduce”. Must have heard it 6 out of 10 days. Alwaysreducealwaysreducealwaysreduce!
just makes it sound more impressive. and also makes it sound like they asked more people. “they asked at least 10 people”, you think. “instead of just asking 5 if they had asked 6 maybe the 6th would have been a ‘no’ so and it would have been 4 out of 6 instead of 4 out of 5.” Contrarily what sounds more impressive? " half of all people surveyed" or “one out of two?” ah well, it’s 6 dozen of one and half of another.
“Pardon me while I have a strange interlude.”-Marx
99 out of 100 people are never bothered by this state of affairs. . .and then comes this handle with all the 'x’s in it. Must be a Marxian plot.
Ray
BTW, 4 out of 5 doctors say 90% of people admire doctors, but I’m not 1. . .but rather at least 10%.
Ray
Eight out of ten people think the other two are nuts.
And of course 88% of all statistics are made up by the writer.
Nuts. From the title of this thread, I thought it was about dates, and whether 8/10 meant August 10 or October 8.
I think “8 out of 10” is more accurate. It means somewhere between 76% and 84%. “4 out of 5” could be anything between 71% and 89%.
Robin (Anne Heche) to Quinn (Harrison Ford)
“I’ve flown with you twice and you’ve crashed half the time.” - Robin (Anne Heche) to Quinn (Harrison Ford) in Six Days Seven Nights