# Statistics puzzler

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistics-puzzler/616607>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [March 23, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistics-puzzler/616607 "2012-03-23T15:32:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistics-puzzler/616607/1 "2012-03-23T15:32:45Z")

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This is making the rounds on Facebook, and I initially thought I had it pegged until I started reading some of the comments in the article. Now it’s making my brain hurt.

I’m making the question as the poll. Please stand by…

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistics-puzzler/616607/2 "2012-03-23T15:47:50Z")

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My reasoning is there’s no apparent standard as to what the “correct” answer is. So I assume it’s also random. Which means that there’s a 20% chance, I’d pick the correct answer. 20% isn’t a listed choice, so I chose “none of the above”.

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**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistics-puzzler/616607/3 "2012-03-23T16:33:26Z")

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It seems like it depends on if “correct/incorrect” refers to the letter (a, b, c, d, e), in which case it would be 20%, or the “percentage”, in which case it would ne 33.33333%. Neither is an option, so I, too, went with “none of the above.”

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**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistics-puzzler/616607/4 "2012-03-23T16:39:22Z")

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Shit, I made a typo in the choices. Can a mod edit the poll and zero-out the current set of responses? In the mean time, nobody else should answer until I can either get it fixed or start a new thread. I went ahead and reported myself for corrective action.

Sorry…

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**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistics-puzzler/616607/5 "2012-03-23T18:00:32Z")

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Go ahead and start a new thread and make it like you want. I’ll close this one.

Ellen

New thread: [Statistics Puzzler (this time with a potentially correct answer) - In My Humble Opinion - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=646087)