Things I Hate About News: Bad Math
From a CNN article:
"Japan executed 15 inmates in 2008 and 95 inmates currently sit on Japan's death row. Japan's rate of executions since August 2007 has been approximately one execution every two to three months."
Assume there were _no_ executions from August 2007 through the end of that year. We count the 12 months of 2008 + 5 months of 2007 = 17 months. 17 months / 15 executions = 1.13 months per execution.
I have no opinion regarding Japan's use of capital punishment. I have strong opinions on basic arithmetic. Can anyone tell me how they could arrive at that figure?
"Japan executed 15 inmates in 2008 and 95 inmates currently sit on Japan's death row. Japan's rate of executions since August 2007 has been approximately one execution every two to three months."
Assume there were _no_ executions from August 2007 through the end of that year. We count the 12 months of 2008 + 5 months of 2007 = 17 months. 17 months / 15 executions = 1.13 months per execution.
I have no opinion regarding Japan's use of capital punishment. I have strong opinions on basic arithmetic. Can anyone tell me how they could arrive at that figure?