Murders highly rated, math not so much
It somewhat annoys me when college students can’t tell the difference between a rate and a sum, as in this paragraph from the student-run The Daily Free Press:
While 2005 saw record crime rates in Boston — with reaching a 10-year high at 73 homicides — 2006 is poised to end an even bloodier year, plagued with 70 homicides as of the beginning of December compared to 66 during the same time frame last year, according to Boston Police records.
Here’s another gem from the same article:
There were 73 homicides in all of 2005, up 46 percent from 39 in 2003.
Speaking of murder rates, assuming there are no more homicides in Boston this year, the city’s murder rate for the year will be 11.7 murders per 100,000 residents. Had the Mayor failed to get the Census Bureau to revise the population estimate it would have been 12.5. Five more murders and we’ll hit 12.5 anyway.
