The WTBTS is not the only organization guilty of this. The BBC Radio 4 programme "More or Less" is an excellent discussion on the statistics behind headlines and news stories which use such subjective language.
Posts by 88JM
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23Some vs Many
by Londo111 init is interesting how the watchtower uses these two words.
for instance, the word some is often used to minimize, and many used to maximize.
and yet, it is so unspecific that some might be a greater quantity than many, yet the mind doesnt process these words this way.. for instance, if it is a failed prediction or a changed teaching, they might say, some believed... when it fact some means most or all, because this was food at the proper time coming from gods channel through the watchtower.
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25 YEARS of compiled yearbook statistics
by 88JM inhello again folks - as promised in my last thread here, i've been working on turning yearbook statistics into excel spreadsheets.. coincidentally, today is my 25th birthday (spare a thought for a fader).. i've now updated the spreadsheet with yearbook data all the way back to 1988 (the year i was born), therefore it now contains 25 years of statistics.. there were a lot of countries changing around and for some it was possible to create a continuation of data.
some are a simple change of name like south-west africa to namibia.
others, for example - in 1993 with czechoslovakia splitting into two countries (czech republic and slovakia) i have added an extra row that provides a continuation of the data, combining czech republic and slovakia back together as if they were still one country.
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88JM
LisaRose:
For the "leavers" statistics, how did you calculate that? Is it the number baptized minus increased number of publishers? Does it take deaths rates into consideration?
I didn't calculate leavers?
I didn't attempt to do that as there is a bit of debate on how to produce an "accurate" figure, and I doubt I would be able to get accurate reliable historic mortality rates for each individual country.
All I'm trying to do is just collate the data really and get it into a useable format so other people can then go and make those sorts of calculations.
From the data however, you can produce still interesting and reliable statistics to show things like there are now far less hours spent per publisher and that there are far more hours spent to gain 1 baptism candidate, though you do still have to remember adjustments like being able to now count time studying with unbaptized children.
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23
'Jehovah will provide' / some fish(y) stories! - WT April 15, 2014
by bats in the belfry ineduardo & family with kids will pioneer and survive on 10% of his regular income.. .. .
page 24. .
sort of reminded me of this guy: father of four quits job after attending annual meeting.
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88JM
"questionable sites appeared"
Yeah, that browser history can be a real "blessing" haha. I hope it was good stuff he got busted for!
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20
Wow... you WERE right! The KH was to teach you how to SELL!!
by ILoveTTATT in.
as you can see from the picture, in the kingdom hall there was a board with "publishers, books, booklets," etc... aparently for the entire congregation.
not sure what the other line is, maybe it is a goal?.
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88JM
I've had shepherding visits when I always felt the elders were about to whip out the projector and pull up a spreadsheet graph or a bar chart and laser pointer. They certainly felt like corporate meetings sometimes.
Elder: "So why do you think your hours have not been as high for this month as they were this time last year?"
Me: "Umm.... "
Elder: "Well let's look at your hours here together. You see..."
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31
Will Moses have time for you in the New World?
by bats in the belfry in.
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2014 the watchtower, april 15, page 6.
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88JM
It's fine as long as he doesn't go out to pick that stick up on a Sunday
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31
2013 Report - difference in av. pubs compared to % of baptisms
by likeabird ini just took the first page of the 2013 report and added two new columns to look at alternative ways of calculating the 'increase'.
first column: 2013 av.
pubs minus 2012 av.
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88JM
Corrections made - ignore previous ones!
Yearbook Stats 1988 - 2013:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_bzL2A4XRioSHczZUFKVFl4ck0
MIRROR #1: http://dfiles.eu/files/acl1ixyo6
MIRROR #2: http://www.fileflyer.com/view/xpgBMAh
MIRROR #3: http://www.fileswap.com/dl/8snnqR0reI/
MIRROR #4: http://www.sendspace.com/file/dhccys
Yearbook Stats by Field 1988 - 2013:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_bzL2A4XRiobUUtT3hXaW4zVkk
MIRROR #1: http://dfiles.eu/files/6r2rkqtqp
MIRROR #2: http://www.fileflyer.com/view/xpgBMAh
MIRROR #3: http://www.fileswap.com/dl/YvGVkU3ewI/
MIRROR #4: http://www.sendspace.com/file/yhpwl9
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62
25 YEARS of compiled yearbook statistics
by 88JM inhello again folks - as promised in my last thread here, i've been working on turning yearbook statistics into excel spreadsheets.. coincidentally, today is my 25th birthday (spare a thought for a fader).. i've now updated the spreadsheet with yearbook data all the way back to 1988 (the year i was born), therefore it now contains 25 years of statistics.. there were a lot of countries changing around and for some it was possible to create a continuation of data.
some are a simple change of name like south-west africa to namibia.
others, for example - in 1993 with czechoslovakia splitting into two countries (czech republic and slovakia) i have added an extra row that provides a continuation of the data, combining czech republic and slovakia back together as if they were still one country.
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88JM
Corrections made - Falkland/Faroe issue and Sweden 2006 Baptisms (333 apparently!):
Yearbook Stats 1988 - 2013:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_bzL2A4XRioSHczZUFKVFl4ck0
MIRROR #1: http://dfiles.eu/files/acl1ixyo6
MIRROR #2: http://www.fileflyer.com/view/xpgBMAh
MIRROR #3: http://www.fileswap.com/dl/8snnqR0reI/
MIRROR #4: http://www.sendspace.com/file/dhccys
Yearbook Stats by Field 1988 - 2013:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_bzL2A4XRiobUUtT3hXaW4zVkk
MIRROR #1: http://dfiles.eu/files/6r2rkqtqp
MIRROR #2: http://www.fileflyer.com/view/xpgBMAh
MIRROR #3: http://www.fileswap.com/dl/YvGVkU3ewI/
MIRROR #4: http://www.sendspace.com/file/yhpwl9
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62
25 YEARS of compiled yearbook statistics
by 88JM inhello again folks - as promised in my last thread here, i've been working on turning yearbook statistics into excel spreadsheets.. coincidentally, today is my 25th birthday (spare a thought for a fader).. i've now updated the spreadsheet with yearbook data all the way back to 1988 (the year i was born), therefore it now contains 25 years of statistics.. there were a lot of countries changing around and for some it was possible to create a continuation of data.
some are a simple change of name like south-west africa to namibia.
others, for example - in 1993 with czechoslovakia splitting into two countries (czech republic and slovakia) i have added an extra row that provides a continuation of the data, combining czech republic and slovakia back together as if they were still one country.
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88JM
Damn - I thought I'd fixed those - thanks...
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62
25 YEARS of compiled yearbook statistics
by 88JM inhello again folks - as promised in my last thread here, i've been working on turning yearbook statistics into excel spreadsheets.. coincidentally, today is my 25th birthday (spare a thought for a fader).. i've now updated the spreadsheet with yearbook data all the way back to 1988 (the year i was born), therefore it now contains 25 years of statistics.. there were a lot of countries changing around and for some it was possible to create a continuation of data.
some are a simple change of name like south-west africa to namibia.
others, for example - in 1993 with czechoslovakia splitting into two countries (czech republic and slovakia) i have added an extra row that provides a continuation of the data, combining czech republic and slovakia back together as if they were still one country.
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88JM
Nothing leaping out at me yet, beyond what's been said already. Must be the first year I've seen where there are hardly any country name changes, or merging/splitting. Let's hear it for world peace!
Eastern europe is definitely stagnating/in decline for the JW's:
Latvia: -2%
Poland: -1%
Croatia: -1%
Moldova: -1%
Estonia: -1%
Bosnia and Herzegovina: -1%
Greece: -1%
Hungary: 0% (decreased)
Czech Republic: 0% (decreased)
Germany: 0% (decreased)
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31
2013 Report - difference in av. pubs compared to % of baptisms
by likeabird ini just took the first page of the 2013 report and added two new columns to look at alternative ways of calculating the 'increase'.
first column: 2013 av.
pubs minus 2012 av.
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88JM
Thanks jwfacts - yes, I've seen the excellent resources there before - very useful indeed. I see it does cover the grand totals, though not the country by country breakdown.
Anyway, I've now updated my previous spreadsheets with the new 2013 Yearbook data - it now contains 26 years of statistics.
As before, there are two files for download, the second being the more useful one to most of you.
Yearbook Stats 1988 - 2013:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_bzL2A4XRioU2tSLWlXODBmOW8
MIRROR #1: http://dfiles.eu/files/8gmowa0u9
MIRROR #2: http://www.fileflyer.com/view/MSqBQAs
MIRROR #3: http://www.fileswap.com/dl/dz0k38QrjR/
MIRROR #4: http://www.sendspace.com/file/qgngj0
Yearbook Stats by Field 1988 - 2013:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_bzL2A4XRiodUs1bmQyNlJVZG8
MIRROR #1: http://dfiles.eu/files/1nqmvzpfh
MIRROR #2: http://www.fileflyer.com/view/MSqBQAs
MIRROR #3: http://www.fileswap.com/dl/OaJKghTz7x/
MIRROR #4: http://www.sendspace.com/file/6409gg