It's common for the BBC these days to use terminology that makes the best headline, rather than that which is is most concise. I've just heard a good example on the six o'clock news that there has been a 'four hundred percent increase' in liver disease.
I'm not trying to start a debate on liver disease here, or the hazards (or merits) of alcohol abuse, so let's assume instead they were talking of ingrown toenails, and the BBC had reported a 400% increase. If we assume there were (say) 1000 cases last year, then a 10% increase would mean 1100 this year. A 90% increase would mean 1900 this year and so on, so a 400% increase would mean there were 5000 ingrown toenails this year.
If there were indeed a 400% increase, with 5000 new ingrown toenails this year, as opposed to 1000 last year, then surely 'five fold' would have made a better headline. In that case, why did the BBC not say so?
This is not a cryptic puzzle, I am simply trying to figure out how to interpret the figures that are presented to as as 'news' these days.
Any thoughts, anybody?
- 7LM
