Numbers.. Oh my.

I'm not entirely read to have my article ripped apart in class in front of everyone.  Let's face it, we are not very nice when we do it, but it's part of the game.

I am putting myself on the sacrificial alter right now and using my own articles to point out my own misfailings. 

First of all, I've been writing for the DI since freshman year, so we are entering into our third year.  It is amazing to me, looking back, a) how terrible somethings were that got published and b) the lack of substantial information/numerical data I had to back up my claims.

Sad times.

But here are a few oh-so-special mistakes I have made in the past..

Most recently, the Alzheimer Story has numbers that don't match up, making it glaringly obvious that I didn't check out the claims of the people using the numbers to sound smart.  I also used statistics from the Alzheimer Association, which is going to put out the statistics that best serve their own purpose.  Lastly, I made broad claims without putting them into perspective.

Pretty rookie mistakes for a third-year student.

Then, there was a Teach for America story that just.. didn't have substantial facts (or opposing opinions..) to make it seem legitimate.  Throwing in technical terms does not make you sound starter, and it make's the numbers get lost.  It's easier to put things into perspective when you put things in terms people will understand.  See here:  

"Students involved in this study typically fall at the 14th percentile, which means that about 86 percent of students nationwide fall above them. With that in mind, Teach for America participants make significantly more progress in math than expected, raising students from the 14th percentile to the 17th percentile, according to the study. This is roughly the equivalent to an additional month of math instruction."

It just makes it harder to understand what is trying to be said when you start talking  about percentiles and making things better.  How do you do this? In terms of numbers, ratios, percentages, what does it mean?

These are just two examples from stories I've written.  I could go on and on about the terrible things I've written that have glaringly obvious holes in them--we'll leave that for another time.