~~~~~~~~~Calli~~~~~~~~~~

We're drinking tonight?

Well, why not? Hey, do you like Reuben sandwiches or kidney beans? (Or, I said OR. Don't worry. I'm not creating some kind of Frankenstein's Sandwich.)

Oh, Calli. My sympathies.

Calli, I'm so sorry.

It got noticeably better in the first few days or the first week, and it's been pretty much the same since.

That's better than a kick in the pants, anyway.

There was a great interview in the Onion (I think) where he got into details on that (and also why he'll never be casting Donald Sutherland in anything).

Ah, I think that's the interview when I started to really & truly loathe him. Memories...

And back to stats... If you ask the same question for 15 years, it most certainly does tell you about trends. Even if the original numbers aren't representative, a change still is.

Data are not sensationalistic. Data are data. If someone says, "35% of the population believes every word of the Bible, so they must think that if you work on the sabbath you should be put to death," the problem isn't with the data; it's with the idiot interpreting the data. People may misinterpret and distort the information, but that's always true. The fact that something isn't idiot-proof doesn't make it useless.

Cindy, I do understand what you are concerned about. I just think you are overestimating how significant an issue it is. Subjective questions get asked all the time, and the researchers know they are subjective. Like, "Is your health excellent, good, fair, or poor?" People's idea of what "good health" is can be kinda relative. It may still be valuable data even if people are interpreting the question, and the answer categories, in very individual ways.

I love it. Clearly, we should sit up and watch it and drink Fernet one night. Yes.

Can I come?

Opposite of obvious - counterintuitive?

Hey, do you like Reuben sandwiches or kidney beans? (Or, I said OR. Don't worry. I'm not creating some kind of Frankenstein's Sandwich.)

Not so much with the Reubens, since I don't like Swiss cheese or sauerkraut. I do like kidney beans.

Oh, Calli, I'm sorry. 'Ma to you and yours.

Not so much with the Reubens, since I don't like Swiss cheese or sauerkraut.

FREAK!

Data are data.

Data are plural! Oh, nearest and dearest to my heart!

(A wmoan in a psych doctoral program told me once that if you say "the data is" at any point in your oral defense you'll be failed out of the program. Hopefully that's an exaggeration, but way to put the fear of Greek number-agreement into people!!)