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From: jho@ihuxn.UUCP (Yosi Hoshen)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re: To Yosi Hoshen re. Mormans and TV
Message-ID: <970@ihuxn.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 22-Feb-85 13:53:26 EST
Article-I.D.: ihuxn.970
Posted: Fri Feb 22 13:53:26 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 26-Feb-85 07:03:04 EST
References: <547@decwrl.UUCP> <964@ihuxn.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 39

I received the following communication regarding suicide rate and
drug abuse among teen-agers in Utah:

>>=[previous Yosi Hoshen posting]

>> There are two main faults in the Godmaker program, and the commercials
>> that accompany it.  First, it attempts to emotionalize the issue
>> in propaganda like fashion. Second, it uses faulty statistics and
>> bad experiences of some ex-Mormons to make generalized statements.

>As I stated in an earlier letter, check the stats for yourself before
>making these statements. Utah has one of the highest rates of suicide
>and drug abuse among teen-agers. Ditto for my earlier statement about
>women in Utah. Those are the FACTS.

The producers of the "Godmakers" used statistics issued by the state
of Utah.  Every state/city has its own ways of providing statistics.
For example, some years ago the city of Chicago reported a decline
in crime.  It turned out that the decline was only a statistical fiction.  
The police changed the method of reporting crimes, so that
it would appear as if the number of crimes had been reduced.
This is not surprising, since this is the kind of trick that one
would expect from the Chicago politicians.

Utah, unlike Chicago and many other states, is known for keeping good
records.  This is consistent with Mormon tradition (e.g. records of the
dead). When the producers made their charges on the rate of suicide 
and drug abuse in Utah, it was apparent that they were using raw
data tailored to prove their point.  If the producers of the
Godmakers were really interested in getting the facts, rather than
producing anti-Mormon propaganda, they should have first compared
the methods of statistical data reporting in individual states.
To produce a valid statistical comparison, the producers needed
a properly weighted data--something they did not have, and apparently
did not bother to obtain.
-- 

Yosi Hoshen, Bell Laboratories
Naperville, Illinois, (312)-979-7321, Mail: ihnp4!ihuxn!jho