Bizarre figures on mobile phone vs fixed line penetration

[Tiwaz]

Actually, I have been trying to explain that same thing from post 5 in this thread.

[Karhunkoski]

Actually, I have been trying to explain that same thing from post 5 in this thread.

Yup, am ne since post 2

I think Hank was on the ball there too.

[otyikondo]

I salute you. Thank you for you interest.

[Karhunkoski]

I salute you.

No no no, that was AC/DC

[sammy]

I salute you.

No no no, that was AC/DC

He should have said "Hallowed be thy name".

[Karhunkoski]

[otyikondo]

Success!

I have received a reply.

The Eurostat person writes:

You are right. There seems to be a bit of a mystery in these figures. As you might have noticed, the source is the Eurobarometer Survey 64.4. I retrieved the Eurobarometer Survey and looked up the section from where we took the information. Sweden indeed shows 0%.... Look at http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/arch ... 249_en.pdf for the full report, page 27. As you may understand we rely on published data in these publictions, because it is impossible to gather all the data ourselves. Now to be honest, questioning how the Eurobarometer producers came to this result is another thing. Besides, our purpose in this publication is not to offer solutions or explanations, but to provide information which is as accurate as possible, considering the circumstances.

Having said this we are glad that people like you are asking these type of questions. Indeed it might be that any difference between countries in any of the comparisons which were mentioned, is an error in the survey (as you might know, there is always an element of error), but it might be due for example, to choices or decisions that governments or policy makers make. Now people might know about this or they might not, and even if they know, they might accept it in exchange for something else. However, it might be due to some failure in the market and consumers don't even realise it. As is explained in the preface of the publication, we hope that this publication gives information to consumers or their agents (like the media or NGOs) to be in a position to ask questions and take more informed decisions.

etc,etc...

You will doubtless be pleased, Mr Karhunkoski, that in my reply I fully quoted your excellent exegesis on the subject, as one plausible theory for the difference between us and them next door, pointing out that it is a factor of the market and not of consumer behaviour. It's only one theory, but it's as good as any, sez I.

To Mr. Tiwaz, I thank you, too, for your identical and valuable contribution to the debate, and the fact that Mr. Karhunkoski's entry went back to Brussels should NOT be construed as a personal slight. Karhunkoski's was a neat straightforward package, that's all.

Sorry to have made such a fuss, but it pisses me off no end when these things get reported and nobody asks WHY X = 47 and Y = 0. In this case it doesn't matter much, but we've already seen with PISA and ecological footprint and others that often the crude numbers hide much more subtle meanings.

[Karhunkoski]

You will doubtless be pleased, Mr Karhunkoski

To be honest, I would have been more pleased today if Frank would ask me for advice on buying a 7.62mm and your good self had asked to borrow a Maiden album (even one of the more modern and commercial offerings from the late 80s would suffice)

But congratulations on scoring a reply. I've always found those Euro types across there to be more than friendly.

[olofsson]

Sorry to have made such a fuss, but it pisses me off no end when these things get reported and nobody asks WHY X = 47 and Y = 0. In this case it doesn't matter much, but we've already seen with PISA and ecological footprint and others that often the crude numbers hide much more subtle meanings.

Maybe the key quote ought to be:

Besides, our purpose in this publication is not to offer solutions or explanations, but to provide information which is as accurate as possible, considering the circumstances.

It's up to the educated and intelligent reader to make educated and intelligent interpretations.

[otyikondo]

Sorry to have made such a fuss, but it pisses me off no end when these things get reported and nobody asks WHY X = 47 and Y = 0. In this case it doesn't matter much, but we've already seen with PISA and ecological footprint and others that often the crude numbers hide much more subtle meanings.

Maybe the key quote ought to be:

Besides, our purpose in this publication is not to offer solutions or explanations, but to provide information which is as accurate as possible, considering the circumstances.

It's up to the educated and intelligent reader to make educated and intelligent interpretations.

Yes, but is the first responder - the journalist - really an educated and intelligent reader, and does he leave anything in his reporting for the real reader to get a handle on?

Don't forget that most print/TV/radio media will not be linking to the original material.

My objection is precisely that the readers don't get given more than bite-sized pre-digested chunks that often turn out to be tofu rather than real meat.

[superiorinferior]

Tofu is better for you.

I digress, but what was the big deal for you? It wasn't like they were saying something outrageous like "all Swedes have lint in their bellybuttons but 64 percent of Finns do."

What is it about telephone connectivity statistics that gets your blood boiling so?

[otyikondo]

Tofu is better for you.

I digress, but what was the big deal for you? It wasn't like they were saying something outrageous like "all Swedes have lint in their bellybuttons but 64 percent of Finns do."

What is it about telephone connectivity statistics that gets your blood boiling so?

Camel's back. S'all part of the same long continuum. See today's stuff, too. I'm sure the PISA figures contain things that nuance them a good deal, but it's all distilled down into best and worst. Like I said earlier, THIS one hardly mattered, except to pique my curiosity as to why other people's curiosity (further up the line) had NOT been piqued...


I guess, too, SI, that I've got a sneaking sympathy for the statisticians. They get all the blame, when it probably should be the short-cutting journalists who get whacked. A bit like the old days of blaming "computers" for excessive gas bills, when we all knew it was human beans who were programming them.

[Karhunkoski]

They get all the blame, when it probably should be the short-cutting journalists who get whacked.

Journalists eh?

I thought it was just the YLE English pages which were crap and full of errors, most of which were not attributable to "language problems".

Now HS is at it too:

An even greater increase has taken place in alcohol-related liver diseases, which killed 562 people in 2000 and 998 last year. Deaths among men increased by 67 per cent, and among women the rise was 67 per cent.

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Alcoho ... 5232234980

That's just lack of attention to detail. Perhaps all the Finns who can write something properly have hotfooted it off abroad? Perhaps they should put another 5 cents on the price of the newspaper and recruit some qualified immigrants.

Hope you don't mind me adding my moan to yours' oty.

[superiorinferior]

Hope you don't mind me adding my moan to yours' oty.

While I am not usually a stickler for this type of thing -- in order to be taken seriously -- it would be in your greater interest when writing about poor writing skills not to distribute apostrophes where they do not belong.

Had I read aloud what you wrote, it would have sounded like "Hope you don't mind me adding my moan to yoursez, oty."

Now that isn't becoming of a media critic!

[Karhunkoski]

You are totally correct to point this out SI. You may not be a stickler for this sort of thing but secretly, I sometimes am, which makes me even more disappointed with myself I search frantically for an excuse but can offer nothing better than, "I was in a hurry to retrieve cold beer from the fridge". I'm sorry, no really I am.