3 ms·

If I want to know the chances of someone breaking into my apartment I want the data per-apartment. If I want to know the same for cars I want the data per-car.

• jlgreco 13y ago
  > If I want to know my chance of getting shot I want the data per-person In reality though, it isn't as simple as that. Sure, I don't want to be shot. I also don't want other people to be shot a lot in my neighborhood. If I walk to work and see a car parked on the street has been broken into, that bothers, even though my car is in a secure parking garage. I don't want to be the victim of crime, but I also don't want to live amidst crime. I don't want to see it, I don't want to hear about it, and I don't want to think about it. Crime per km^2 is nearly as important to me as crime per capita.
  • derefr 13y ago
    To put it another way: if you live alone, statistics measured per-person are directly applicable to the chance something will happen to you. If you have a family who lives with you, though, the combined probability distribution of something happening to someone in your household changes quite dramatically.
    • cbr 13y ago
      These are rare events, so the chance of something happening to someone in your family of N is close to N times the chance of it happening to you.