Quote:
Originally Posted by fintstone
Did you read your own article? The folks doing the "reporting" are not necessarily the same folks coming up with the numbers. Yes. Most folks who do this type of work (coming up with data where none exists) do so on government grants or as a college thesis. Most organizations interested in this type work...or a particular question like this also usually have a particular position they are trying to support. Why else would anyone set out to create data instead of relying on actual reported data?.
|
Well the FBI's stat of 8% is based on crimes reported to police.
On the DOJ site, they cite several 3rd party studies. Are you asking me if it bothers me that DOJ uses and quotes 3rd party studies? Not really. I'm willing to assume that the DOJ vetted their information carefully and can be trusted to have used statistics that they found to be from reputable sources. That seems like a reasonable assumption on my part, unless I'm missing something.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fintstone
Why do you think they create this data? Do you not believed that they are paid to do so? There is a huge industry around this. I personally get trained on this several times a year...as do millions of others in the military or Federal government. It is a huge industry.
|
NHTSA compiles and creates data and are part of huge industries as well. Do you think it's reasonable to suspect that they fudge numbers to make highway safety seem like it's a big issue? They employ A LOT of people... car/road safety is a HUGE INDUSTRY, you know.
I'm pretty comfortable accepting that the NHTSA was created and funded to address an issue that was deemed serious by experts that studied the information. I am naive though, so feel free to set me straight.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fintstone
Back to the silly, made up statistics you are so adamant are accurate.
|
I'm not adamant the statistics are accurate, but as I stated, it strikes me as reasonable to accept information from people who have studied the issue. Obviously, you are not comfortable with them being experts or providing reasonably accurate information. Feel free to post the information that you think is more valid than that of the FBI or DOJ.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fintstone
I'm not following you logic. If we could count everyone who is raped and does not report it, why would anyone need to report it...as we would already know? Why have we not arrested all these rapists?
...and if we already knew how many rape cases were not false accusations...why would we ever have to have a trial? We could just sentence the guilty and free the innocent.
|
It seems pretty reasobale to me to accept the information that law enforcement, universities, student organizations etc have compiled by surveying women and students. You know, they ask a bunch of women "have you ever been assaulted", and "did yiu report it", "were charges laid" etc etc. If there were dozens of these surveys done, and they all tended to show similar results pointing to a really serious problem... my inclination is to think, "wow... that seems like a serious problem."
In contrast, your inclination is to see it as "manufactured statistics to advance a cause"
I dunno, maybe you're onto something, and I should think about my bias, because I see the info and think that the information seems reasonable and concerning, and the "cause" seems pretty damn worthy.