Where do they get these statistics?

[Shinmaru]

The other day, I was listening to the radio and they were talking about all these different statistics that different scientists and researchers have come up with. Some of the odder ones I heard were that on average people blink 5,000 (or something like that - I don't remember the exact number) times a day and people swallow an average of eight spiders a year in their sleep.

My question is, how the heck do these scientists and researchers come up with these stupid things?! Are they just making them up or what? And why are they wasting time with things like that when they could be doing more important things with their lives - they are scientists and researchers, after all!

[pbfrontmanvdp]

LoL thats a really good question. Well they dont necessarily do things like this for days. What they probably do is get random people and do tests for only a minute. Like for the eye blinks topic, the scientists probably only had several individuals blink for about a minute and took an average. Then they just figured the average amount of time people stay awake during the day and figured out how many times people could possibly blink throughout a day. LoL its only an estimate.

For the spider thing i have no clue on how they got one for that or even why it matters. Im sleeping when that happens what do i care lol. Plus spiders are good since they kill other insects (mainly mosquitoe since there the only insect i hate cause i get bit so much by them).

About your topic on how they should be doing other things such as research on cancer and other medical problems is right in a way. I mean if they want to they could do as much research as they want on what people do everyday, but medical research should come first. Im not sure if these scientists are strictly just doing research on human statistics or if they just do it on the side, so i cant really have that much of an opinion on the scientists jobs. Hopefully they are just doing it on the side.

[Epsilon]

Well I'm gonna be proven wrong about these, but I'm giving my thoughts on them anyways.

I have no clue on the eyes blinging thing but I'll try to say it. Anyways...scientists who study the human body do need to know how much a person blinks a day. Marking what needs to be done about it, for eye doctors and other doctors as well. Increased eye blinking tells some differences between different peoples eyes.

Well for the spider thing they monitored it. 80 particals makes up 8 spiders. The 80 particals dirft in the air currents so once you breath they go into your body along with the air, but some how people really do sallow some of those mini spiders. Mini spiders that you cane barely see usually tend to be weaker to larger air currents. Such as the one you use to breath in or out. And as how they came up for it, I think some of the spider got into a different test they were doing. The test of air currents.

And I don't think the reseachers things are stupid. Each kind of researcher picks what they want ot study them selves. Most pick to work on human health though. I'd rather worry about the O-Zone and sun, ya got bigger problems there anyways, rather then human health. Plus in some places sallow too many things of spiders and you can die. It's the same with the M.U.T. scientists. and with all other theroy scientists pick what your intrested in. In the fact that some do this for things on the side. But people who study bugs well they have to know how many spiders a person sallows a year, and caculate how many spiders will be with in the next years.

[pbfrontmanvdp]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Ruby [/i]
[B]Well for the spider thing they monitored it. 80 particals makes up 8 spiders. The 80 particals dirft in the air currents so once you breath they go into your body along with the air, but some how people really do sallow some of those mini spiders. Mini spiders that you cane barely see usually tend to be weaker to larger air currents. Such as the one you use to breath in or out. And as how they came up for it, I think some of the spider got into a different test they were doing. The test of air currents. [/B][/QUOTE]

LoL oh i didnt know they meant the microscopic type ones i thought he meant like huge spiders that you could see with your eyes. In that case then i can see how that is possible, probably even more than 8 a year then. Kinda funny though i mean people do probably eat spiders as some type of delicacy in some country not me at least :rolleyes:.

[Epsilon]

O_o You thought they were talking about larger spiders? If you did do that you wouldn't be able to get them past your mouth. They'd be able to use the same juices they use in there webs just to crawl back out or just sit in your mouth all night. Ick! That'd be really gross. And it's mostly only eight because the smaller spiders are better at advoiding larger air currents, and tend to be able to get away faster so to leave the air currents. I'm hoping that now body here eats spiders, and no offence to any one who dose...but...to me that's just...well to put it nicer...I'd never do that.

[AzureWolf]

Yeah, most of this information is built on theoretical probability and statistics. Most of the theoretical Prob&Stat people work with have just been created and researched, and still under study. Haha, the method is still under study, nevermind what they use the study to study!

Anyway, I'm not good with names, but one guy has this entire Prob&Stat theory down, that works really well. Instead of trying to figure out how accurate your results are, you figure out how accurate your results aren't. Yeah, a little weird at first, but here's how it works:

Basically, you take a random sample of people (it's large in studies like this, but relative to the population, it's extremely small) and create your data. When you have the data, you calculate it and get your average. Now, create a hypothesis: "The average is this." What you do next is try to disprove your statement by proving another. You can't actually disprove anything, but you can get a relativistic value to how possible your statement is (yeah, there's currently no way to figure out how probable your statement is). You try to see if the data strongly suggests that the average is actually below, above, and/or not equal to the given value. So, you get a relativistic value and compare it to each hypothesis. This technique, if I remember correctly, is called "Null's hypothesis." I'm rusty with this stuff, so "Null's hyp." might just refer to the initial statement. Anyway, if each test to see if the average is more possible another value fails, then you can say with a certain voice, "The data strongly suggests that this is the average."

In the end, there's a little prob&stat phrase my teacher used to say, "Only God knows the actual value. We can only guess."

[Red]

[color=002E55]The eight spiders in a year 'statistic' isn't real - it's actually from an article about fake statistics on the internet, lol.

All they do is take a few random people, take notes/statistics from them; and if 20% of them for example coughed 5 times in an hour they would say 20% of the population cough 5 times an hour.[/color]

[KittyLynn]

[SIZE=1][COLOR=dodgerblue]They get these statistics by studying people. People who have no life sit in a room all day long and doctors prod adnd poke them and count all the thigns they do. When people donate their bodies to science after they die, they again do more testing.

-Kitty[/COLOR] [/SIZE]

[Deedlit]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by mirai_torankusu [/i]
[B]My question is, how the heck do these scientists and researchers come up with these stupid things?![/B][/QUOTE]

[color=009966]Don't you know? ;) They bug our homes, have cameras everywhere we go, and stalk a few people here and there. :p j/k

Heh. Actually, I don't know where they get this stuff. I guess they have a few human guinea pigs here and there and moniter and watch over them for their entire life.[/color]

[Na'dou]

I ate spiders?!O.o *dies* *puts an h in front of ate* I Hate spiders....Ahhh! *calms down*

Anyway, I think that the spider thing is very interesting. I can't wait to tell my mother. Now I know something I never knew. It's interesting how scientists come up with these stats. Of course I don't know how they come up with them, but I'm pretty sure it's very scientific :D......

[Fall]

"How many windows are hit by birds, on average."

In the paper a few days ago. I'm thinking, what the hell? And it had a result, like 2000 in Australia. Ha, I think it'd be more.

[Guest Crimson Spider]

AAAAAAAAHH! DON'T EAT ME!

Personally, I like to read these statistics. Often times, they don't have the funding or the resourses to research something useful, and a scientist doesn't always have something to do. So they just collect useless information, and make a useless fact probably for sheer entertainment. I don't classify these facts as "truth" like in that spider thing. Besides, they play around with the facts,like the spider particles and stuff like that.

When they use these statisics in a commercial, they can often easily be flipped around. Like "4 out of 5 dentists recomend this certain toothpaste" and such and such. If you flip that around, you'll see that 20% of all dentists say that it is not the best, and don't recommend it. Exactly what does that 5th dentist have to say anyway? Probably something smart and important.

Like one time, I was watching this special on Comic books, and this psychologest went to a place for crazy kids. Every single one of them read comic books. So he said that comic books can make kids go crazy. Flip it around,, and crazy kids like to read comic books.

Dijano that every 9 seconds, someone goes to the hospital for stomach problems?

[Baron Samedi]

one thing that i would like to point out is that, occasionally scientists do this stuff, but mainly it is statisticians who find all the odd number info and whatever.