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The fact that the NHTSA formula gives a score of 5.4 doesn't mean that NHTSA recognizes the car as superior to those with a technical score of 5.3. To put it d

The fact that the NHTSA formula gives a score of 5.4 doesn't mean that NHTSA recognizes the car as superior to those with a technical score of 5.3. To put it differently, if a class gives a grade of A,B,C,D,or F, having a numeric score of 99 versus 98 is somewhat irrelevant if the ultimate grade is A in both cases. If they really did want to make a distinction, they'd introduce a new scoring metric that does allow for those differences

jlgreco 13y ago
If you were in school and had a bet with your roommate about final grades, you wouldn't call off the bet as a draw if you both got A's but you got a higher numeric score than he.
- nonchalance 13y ago
  If you had a bet with your roommate about final grades, you would look at the transcript at the end of the semester. And that transcript most likely says A for both of you, so it would be a draw.
  - jlgreco 13y ago
    I'd jump on the web and see the grades posted by the professor on the course website actually. I always got numeric grades at the end of the semester unless I waited long enough that the course website was nuked, or unless that professor was lazy. You could also just go ask the professor at their office for your grade, but using their site is easier.
- makomk 13y ago
  For a bet like that, it doesn't matter if the score difference results from random chance and not any underlying difference in skill or ability. The NHTSA is in the business of assessing car safety though, and it makes little sense for tnem to rank cars within a category if they don't think the difference is actually meaningful.
thezilch 13y ago
But having a numeric score of 59 versus 9 is relevant, despite them both being F. Likewise, 89 versus 90. NHTSA can do whatever they want; I can say it is just a silly metric that is about as good as gaming reviews, as another comment points out. A 5.4 score is still relevant; why would they throw away precision?
- nonchalance 13y ago
  The NHTSA probably doesn't think that a safety score of 5.3 versus 5.4 has any sort of meaning. If the set of accidents under which you would survive unscathed in a car with score 5.4 but would be injured in a car with score 5.3 has measure 0 (or negligible), then there is no real difference in terms of safety (even if the scores are different)
- smackfu 13y ago
  OTOH, the whole rating system is about taking real tests and progressively throwing away levels of precision. Like combining front and rear and side impact into a single score.

jlgreco 13y ago

If you were in school and had a bet with your roommate about final grades, you wouldn't call off the bet as a draw if you both got A's but you got a higher numeric score than he.

nonchalance 13y ago
If you had a bet with your roommate about final grades, you would look at the transcript at the end of the semester. And that transcript most likely says A for both of you, so it would be a draw.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  I'd jump on the web and see the grades posted by the professor on the course website actually. I always got numeric grades at the end of the semester unless I waited long enough that the course website was nuked, or unless that professor was lazy. You could also just go ask the professor at their office for your grade, but using their site is easier.
makomk 13y ago
For a bet like that, it doesn't matter if the score difference results from random chance and not any underlying difference in skill or ability. The NHTSA is in the business of assessing car safety though, and it makes little sense for tnem to rank cars within a category if they don't think the difference is actually meaningful.

thezilch 13y ago

But having a numeric score of 59 versus 9 is relevant, despite them both being F. Likewise, 89 versus 90. NHTSA can do whatever they want; I can say it is just a silly metric that is about as good as gaming reviews, as another comment points out. A 5.4 score is still relevant; why would they throw away precision?

nonchalance 13y ago
The NHTSA probably doesn't think that a safety score of 5.3 versus 5.4 has any sort of meaning. If the set of accidents under which you would survive unscathed in a car with score 5.4 but would be injured in a car with score 5.3 has measure 0 (or negligible), then there is no real difference in terms of safety (even if the scores are different)
smackfu 13y ago
OTOH, the whole rating system is about taking real tests and progressively throwing away levels of precision. Like combining front and rear and side impact into a single score.