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> It found that 13-14% of students were homeless ... Incorrect. The study actually found that, "63 percent of parenting community college students surveyed we

> It found that 13-14% of students were homeless ... Incorrect. The study actually found that, "63 percent of parenting community college students surveyed were food insecure and almost 14 percent were homeless..." That 14% is therefore a percentage of a percentage of a subset of those surveyed. Meaning it only makes up 8.82% of "parenting" students, alone, and we are never given what percentage that the "parenting" subset comprises of the whole. So the headline should really read, "Less than 8% of community college students surveyed are homeless." Where homeless can mean thrown out or evicted from a previous residence, stayed in a shelter or abandon building, car, etc., or actually had no home or idea where to stay. While the study is worthwhile, the USA TODAY article is worthless.

in_cahoots 9y ago
The article and headline are correct. You can see for yourself in Table 3 of the linked study. For your interpretation to be right the wording would have to be, "63% of students are food-insecure and, of those students, 14% are homeless". As written, there is no indication that those two percentages are related.
- msimpson 9y ago
  > For your interpretation to be right the wording would have to be, "63% of students are food-insecure and, of those students, 14% are homeless". Actually, no. For my interpretation to be absolutely correct it would need to be: "63 percent of parenting community college students surveyed were food insecure and of those students almost 14 percent were homeless..." So I see your point and I stand corrected, but I contest that the sentence in question was written very poorly--easily leading to this misinterpretation. The subject of it is "parenting community college students", yet the context shifts regarding the 14% according to the table you mentioned. There the 14% is representative of "Prevalence of Housing Insecurity, Homelessness, and Food Security Among Survey Respondents." Therefore, the 14% is of the whole but that sentence alludes, incorrectly, to only the "parenting" subset.
  - snissn 9y ago
    Is this correct or not? > Of children who have parents that are in community college, 14% are homeless?
    - msimpson 9y ago
      The data does not support that conclusion as the 14% represents the whole of those surveyed, which includes both parenting and non-parenting students. There is no breakdown of such characters on a parenting vs. non-parenting basis. So it could be 13% of "homeless" students are parenting vs. 1% who are non-parenting, the complete reversal, or anything in between. As in_cahoots noted above, check out Table 3 of the data. It alone is much more clear on what's what.

in_cahoots 9y ago

The article and headline are correct. You can see for yourself in Table 3 of the linked study. For your interpretation to be right the wording would have to be, "63% of students are food-insecure and, of those students, 14% are homeless". As written, there is no indication that those two percentages are related.

msimpson 9y ago
> For your interpretation to be right the wording would have to be, "63% of students are food-insecure and, of those students, 14% are homeless". Actually, no. For my interpretation to be absolutely correct it would need to be: "63 percent of parenting community college students surveyed were food insecure and of those students almost 14 percent were homeless..." So I see your point and I stand corrected, but I contest that the sentence in question was written very poorly--easily leading to this misinterpretation. The subject of it is "parenting community college students", yet the context shifts regarding the 14% according to the table you mentioned. There the 14% is representative of "Prevalence of Housing Insecurity, Homelessness, and Food Security Among Survey Respondents." Therefore, the 14% is of the whole but that sentence alludes, incorrectly, to only the "parenting" subset.
- snissn 9y ago
  Is this correct or not? > Of children who have parents that are in community college, 14% are homeless?
  - msimpson 9y ago
    The data does not support that conclusion as the 14% represents the whole of those surveyed, which includes both parenting and non-parenting students. There is no breakdown of such characters on a parenting vs. non-parenting basis. So it could be 13% of "homeless" students are parenting vs. 1% who are non-parenting, the complete reversal, or anything in between. As in_cahoots noted above, check out Table 3 of the data. It alone is much more clear on what's what.