Re: 2% of Scouts...
Michael A. Golrick (mgolrick@SCLC.ORG)
Fri, 23 May 1997 11:53:20 -0400
Cheryl Singhal wrote:
>
>That 2% of boys entering Scouting who become Eagles --
>
>A. an ASM in our troop has been told that's now 1.7%.
>
>B. anyone know whether that is x% of boys who enter Cub or Boy Scouting,
>or is it x% of boys entering Boy Scouts? --significant difference.
>
>Thanks.
I believe that when you read the fine print, the statistic is the % of all
boys scouts who become Eagle in any single 12 month period.
If my district has 500 boys registered (some are scout, some are
tenderfoot, etc., some are already Eagle, some have palms) as of December
31, 1996, we should expect to have 10 Eagles in 1997.
This is similar to the statistically inaccurate number that 50% of all
marriages end in divorce. What statistics show is that the number of
divorces in any given year is 50% of the number of marriages in that year.
<soap box on> This is a continuing example of the inumeracy of the American
public...both youth and adults. Critical thinking skills MUST be applied.
Is it true that half of all marriages end in divorce...could not be true,
yet the press and public continually cite this statistic! Think about what
the number means!! <soap box off>
The question Cheryl asks is a good one, we just need to read the fine print
after we find it printed in a reliable source.
MIke Walton, anything to add?
Michael A. Golrick mgolrick@sclc.org
Southern Connecticut Library Council
voice: 203-288-5757
fax: 203-287-0757
"The dollar bills the customer gets from the tellers
in four banks are the same. What is different are
the tellers."
Stanley Marcus, Chairman Emeritus, Neiman-Marcus
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
