Questions tagged [statistics]
65 questions
35
votes
4 answers
Do one quarter of Swedes named 'Ali' have a criminal record?
I saw on Reddit that a site called Sputnik News reported that one-fourth of people named Ali in Sweden have a criminal record. I researched a little bit but couldn't find any other source validating this claim.
Is this true?
Source:…
OddDev
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31
votes
4 answers
To what degree do facemasks protect against COVID-19?
I've seen this picture multiple times on social media. Every time I see it, it has numbers that vary wildly, and usually with no source.
Examples:
Advert for facemasks
Twitter comments
Actors Facebook Walls
With the following infographic, what…
tuskiomi
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24
votes
1 answer
Are 20% of automobile drivers under the influence of marijuana?
An article by Quinton James and Johnkeria Kinglocke titled "The Truth About Marijuana" published on the website of the Hanley Foundation (an anti-drug abuse organization in Florida) claims (my emphasis):
Would you allow someone to drive you while…
Robert Columbia
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23
votes
1 answer
Were there more suicides than violent deaths worldwide in 2018?
According to this article at lidovky.cz, there were more suicides than violent deaths all over the world in 2018. Is that true?
The important part of the original (Czech) article:
817 000 versus 544 000
Jedno číslo představuje roční počet…
vojta
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23
votes
1 answer
Are most US mass shooters Democrats?
Are most mass shooters Democrats? This representative said they are.
'So many people that commit mass murders are Democrats': New York congresswoman sparks outrage during discussion on Florida school shooting:
'Yeah, well, obviously there is a lot…
Chloe
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22
votes
2 answers
Did Qatar spend 229 billion USD on the 2022 FIFA World Cup?
Several sources claim that Qatar spent "at least" $229 billion in total over the past decade to prepare for hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup. I won't list all of the sources that make this claim, but here is an example from Reuters:
Gas-rich Qatar,…
Ege Erdil
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22
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1 answer
Was the safety of a WW1 helmet called into question because survivorship bias was neglected?
A common story about the British "Brodie helmet", issued first in World War I, is the following:
After introduction of the helmet, the number of reported head injuries increased. This called the efficacy of the helmet into question among "high…
EpicBroccoli
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17
votes
1 answer
Is a tow truck driver killed every six days on average in the US?
Along I-90 in Massachusetts (and I presume elsewhere in the state), there is a digital billboard which sometimes displays a message from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation that a tow truck driver is killed every six days in the US. (I'd…
user44729
17
votes
2 answers
Are these rape statistics correct regarding rapes of black women by white men between 2003 and 2008 in USA?
I recently saw this picture:
The image links to this DOJ document.
A similar image gives the following sources from the USA Bureau of Justice for the years 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 (table 42 in all cases).
Somehow, the perfect 0 score for 5…
Worse_Username
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16
votes
1 answer
Are there hundreds of thousands of US citizens living in Mexico illegally?
I've seen an article shared a few times on social media entitled "Here's a twist: 91% of Americans living in Mexico are 'Illegal'". It claims:
According to a study by the National Institute of Geography and Statistics, around 739,168 thousand…
Brian Z
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15
votes
1 answer
Did Brazilian football fans take their own lives inside the stadium after the loss to Uruguay in 1950?
An oft-repeated claim about the Uruguay v Brazil 1950 World Cup match is that upon the blowing of the final whistle, several Brazilian fans took their own lives inside the stadium.
The LA Times says that "[a]t the final whistle one distraught fan…
416E64726577
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15
votes
2 answers
Is the chance of solving a murder cut in half if they don't find a lead within the first 48 hours?
For homicide detectives, the clock starts ticking the moment they are called. Their chance of solving a murder is cut in half if they don't get a lead within the first 48 hours.
This was the lead in message for the "Investigation Discovery"…
user53816
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15
votes
1 answer
Have 41% of transgender people attempted suicide?
In Daniella Carter's TED talk "Walking in your truth as an LGBT youth", she mentioned:
I need it, they need it, we need the love, we need the liberation, we need the support, not only for the 2.5 million homeless LGBT youth but for the 41 percent…
Robert Columbia
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15
votes
1 answer
Were enough guns to arm the Marine Corps sold during Black Friday 2017?
According to this article by The Tribunist (which in turn quotes USA Today) (emphasis added):
In all, the FBI fielded 203,086 [background check] requests on Black Friday, up from the previous single-day highs of 185,713 last year and 185,345 in…
rath
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12
votes
3 answers
Is there less than a one in a quadrillion chance of Biden winning states where Trump held the early lead?
The petition to the US Supreme Court on behalf of Texas and against the swing state administrators and legislators contains this claim:
The probability of former Vice President Biden winning the popular vote in the four Defendant States—Georgia,…
matt_black
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