Does the WTS inflate year-end statistics?

by Goldminer 6 Replies latest jw friends

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  Goldminer

  A few weeks ago I was looking through some of my wife's Kingdom Ministries and I noticed a very interesting stat.It appears that every year here in Canada the number of active jw's takes a noticeable jump upwards in the month of August (the end of the service year) and then re-settles to a more regular number again in September.

  After noticing this I went and looked in the older KM's and checked a few more years with the same results.I don't know if this happens in every country but it seems to be happening here in Canada.I found this strange since I remember August as being the month everybody slacked off because they "had their hours".Also I know some students pioneer in the summer but they still would have been publishers before August.

  Here are the Canadian stats for the years I found:

  July August September

  '92 103 708 106 297 103 690

  '93 105 096 109 371 103 350

  '94 105 090 110 659 106 731

  '95 108 993 112 960 109 092

  '96 108 984 114 272 108 745

  '97 108 927 113 763 107 080

  '04 107 474 110 221 106 670

  '05 106 917 109 604 ?

  Can anyone explain this logically or is this another one of their smoke and mirrors tricks? Do upwards of 5000 inactive canadian jw's just pick up their book bags in August to boost up the annual numbers then become inactive again in September? To me it seems like "a small adjustment in the numbers" by the WTS to fit their agenda.

  Goldminer
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  blondie

  August is the end of the service reporting year for the WTS. The secretary in most congregations brings his records up to date. For example, if Brother Procrastination had not reported time for December and March, he will call to see if he has time to report, etc., for all those who have "missed" reporting time for a month or two.

  So we have the current month and 2 months to report in August for Brother Procrastination...it all posts on August, not on the other 2 months. I looks like there are 3 publishers reporting, not 1.

  Is that inflating..........

  Blondie
• 

  MidwichCuckoo

  Men are always prone to exaggeration...
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  Big Tex

  Nina had quit going over a year when (I believe it was August) the secretary called her. Rather than asking why she had been missing for so long, asked her to report her time. After all statistics are all that really matters. She told him she had not been out in service. So he asked if she still read the Bible to our children. She replied that she did, and he very cheerfully informed her that she was entitled to 4 hours of service and a Bible study (for all I know he threw in some return visits as a bonus).

  If that's one congregation, multiply that over the U.S. and then over the world.
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  greendawn

  It is certain that they manipulate the anointed figures which have remained constant for 20 years or so. They are very adept at manipulation in general. So who knows?
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  carla

  Big Tex a question, lets say you had two kids but one was baptized, would she then only have been given 2 hours instead of four because she wouldn't have been able to count the time with the baptized child?
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  blondie

  It is 4 hours total monthly for one family study as long as one child is unbaptized; it doesn't matter if there are 1 or 6 unbaptized children. If both parents are JWs they can each count 4 hours, but only one (the father) counts the Bible study and 4 return visits.

  Studies with people other than your children are not limited to only 4 hours per study. Studies can last any length of time and be conducted more than once a week. Theoretically, you could study with someone 2 hours a day, 7 days a week and count 56 hours that month (or more). Never heard of that though.