Numbers in general can be tricky, especially when using them in describing a claim, fact, or opinion. In different math subjects, I personally have found it to be easier using numbers alone and not with words (word problems were always a challenge for me) because handling numbers alone was enough as a challenge already however when words were added, I felt the questions and story proposed in that problem became misleading. There were times I felt there was a "numerical comparison" that nothing being compared made sense; in accordance to Epstein's text means "comparing apples and oranges" (268).
Some other "numerical comparison" I have seen, is for example:
Attendance at San Jose Sharks games have increased by 45 % over the past two years.
That is great for the San Jose Sharks, that means on one hand, they must be winning a lot more(which these past two years is a fact; based on their statistics) and/or the popularity of the sport has increased. However, this claim exemplifies what the text also mentions, "two times zero is still zero when someone gives a numerical comparison that makes something look impressive but the base of the comparison is not stated" (268). The claim does not mention what the attendance was for each year, and how about for each month? Were there a total 5,000, or 10,000 people for a total of at least 3 games that caused the increase by 45% or was it the whole season overall?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hey, I really enjoyed reading your observations on this chapter because I found myself in a similar situation with numbers. I find them to be more tricky to use in arguments because they hard to show their validity. In math, numbers are a joke or more like the whole world of math haha. But in an argument, we have statements that are supported with actual logical reasons. However, when we use a number in an argument, the best we can do to show its validity is citing it. And from there, we would have to read the documentation on how they concluded to their data. It’s too much work for a person who is in argument and would require more time.
ReplyDelete