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Sample-size-based variance is a nice nit to pick, but it doesn't really seem to match the data presented in the article. Outcomes are strongly correlated in ad

Sample-size-based variance is a nice nit to pick, but it doesn't really seem to match the data presented in the article. Outcomes are strongly correlated in adjacent counties across the map, which is not predicted by sample-size (which would produce uncorrelated noise, in inverse proportion to population density). On the other hand, there is substantial correlation between the given geographic distribution of life expectancy changes and geographic distribution of wealth, as observed in the article.

generj 9y ago
Yes, this is correct. Especially with how extreme the values are within the clusters (like in Kentucky), there is almost no chance they occurred by sample-size variance. Sample-size variance might explain some of those little counties with blips out in OK, MS, and TN though. As an aside, the color scheme on the map makes any decrease look substantially more massive. I wish we had a map which was recentered on the national average growth of life expectancy as well.