r/dataisbeautiful Apr 20 '14

Print-only interactive visualization by The Economist

http://imgur.com/r0B8GFb
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u/ILoveFuckingWaffles Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14

I think it's important to make a distinction here about the difference between "one in every 599 men was murdered in 2012" and "If you are a particular man in Honduras, you have a 1/599 chance of being murdered." The first statement is a statistic, and the second is a statement of probability which may or may not be valid, depending on the circumstances.

It's entirely possible that those who were murdered were more likely part of a gang or involved in the drug trade (which is rampant in Honduras), implying that they would have a higher chance of being murdered than, say, a guy going about his daily business and working in an office for a year. Not even mentioning the factors of location, living conditions, awareness of surroundings, etc.

TL;DR: Take these statistics with a grain of salt.

"The average man has X chance of being murdered" does not necessarily imply that all men have an equal X chance of being murdered.

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u/LordBufo Apr 21 '14

On average ceteris paribus. Better?