Re:Topic 5 DQ 2 What Is More Likely to Kill You?

Re:Topic 5 DQ 2 What Is More Likely to Kill You?

I have come across an example of an article (“Quiz”, rather) that asks participants “What Is More Likely to Kill You? Some of the comparisons are cheetahs (1) to falling out of bed (600); vending machines (2) to volcanoes (200); falls (8.8/100,000) to accidental poisonings (11.6/ 100,000), and icicles (100/ year) to lightning (51/ year). This article does use a few reputable sources- the falls to accidental poisoning ratios reference the CDC (which is an acceptable source for the American population. Of note, this article was obtained on the internet with the question “What is more likely to kill you?” The article caters to a worldwide audience, not just to Americans. The world hosts many different interfering independent variables that are not considered).  In some cases, the author makes a generalization about (the whole of) what is likely to kill you, by comparing 2 completely different populations. For example, the comparison between icicles and lightning cites an article in the British newspaper Telegraph regarding Russian icicle fatalities (reported at 5 in one year; not 100 per year as the “quiz” purports) compared with lightning fatality statistics reported by the (US) NOAA. Not only are the sources statistically incompatible (regarding reputability and sampling techniques used), but the separate populations are not further compared for all variables. For example, statistics are not presented on lightning strikes in Russia, or icicle-related deaths in America (and from an Alaskan, trust me, they occur); nor does the article obtain a sample of any other population in the world. However, the story makes generalizations regarding the larger population from isolated occurrences and samples, and presents flawed “statistics” to a world-wide-web audience.  Speaking of audiences, Wong & Hockenberry et. al (2005) stated that falls and trauma-related accidents kill the most toddlers and pre-schoolers per year; not accidental poisonings as the author Perry maintains (Perry cites the CDC, for adult American deaths). As a geriatric nurse, I also believe that falls kill more elderly people than poisonings. I’m assuming that the article makes assumptions that the audience is American and middle-aged, judging by the way that “facts” are presented that are relevant to this audience only. It fails to account for the population or audience as a whole. Furthermore, generalizations that are made do not hold true for all age-groups (or even geographical) categories of the “population”, or audience

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You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.