Quote:
Originally posted by onetime2
It's an interesting argument. There has always been a lot of discussion around the classification of industries, google on SIC or NAICS and take a look at where various industries are classified, I'm sure you will be surprised by quite a few of them.
For instance, did you know that retail bakeries (e.g., doughnut shops) are included in the NAICS classification for bakery and tortilla manufacturers?
I don't buy into the argument fully but it's interesting.
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You'll also notice that the NAICS classification goes to SIX digits, whereby allowing the researcher to drill-down to find more specific data. It's a way of organizing, and yes, it changes frequently (once every ten years or so). So, why shouldn't donuts be classified under bakeries in the broader sense? I would bet that when you get to 4, 5, and 6 digits, it all settles out.
Sorry..didn't mean to belabour the point, but you can't discount statistics without looking into the theory behind them. They're an anthropogenic tool used to track and provide desired information. If you don't like it, you can change it, or you can use different metrics.
That said, if the Bush administration (or any other for that matter) should choose to "misreport" or "mislead" using statistics (and it happens all the time, all over the world), it's the job of the watchdog agencies to keep the public informed; and good on them for doing so.
It's the skeptic's, or the critic's job to "ask the next question" in cases like this. It seems it's being done.