Discredited rape data overshadow what’s accurate
The most egregious example of bad data driving out good is the rape statistic that one in five women will be attacked. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), conducted by the Department of Justice, has been called the gold standard of rape statistics because its sound methodology is repeated consistently on an annual basis. It found that, from 2007 to 2013, the mean annual rate at which women were sexually assaulted was 4.7 per 1,000. Multiplying the figure by four approximates the risk a female student confronts during her time on campus. It is 20 per 1,000, or one in 50..Researchers who argue for government policy on the basis of a suggestive and now debunked study are expressing vested interests. It is a path by which bad data become bad law.
thehill.com By Wendy McElroy
