Today Decoded Science published my “Interpreting One Report of Statistics on Science Comprehension“. A Yale professor had informally published a study that compared Tea Party supporters, conservative Republicans, and others in their test scores for science comprehension. My task was to explain what the professor’s statistics meant.

Has Anyone Studied Canadian Politicians for their Science Comprehension?

As a Canadian, simply researching that article made me wonder.

Has anyone tested our Canadian politicians for their skills, or attitudes, towards science?

My quick review of four federal party web sites revealed the following:

• The governing Conservative party, which often has branded itself the “Harper government”, has no “search” function except to find members of parliament (MPs). I went through a few pages of news items, and did not find the word “science”.
• Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, the New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP), put “science” in a news article from Sept. 2013. “NDP forces parliamentary committee to discuss challenges facing wireless telecom” simply names the title of one ministry, but at least they mention the word “science”. The NDP also lacks a “search” function.
• The Liberal Party does provide a “search” function. Of several articles that used the word “science”, I noticed MP Marc Garneau’s 2011 post, “Where does science fit in with this government’s policy-making?“. Although Mr. Garneau may not be a rocket scientist, he is a retired astronaut, which counts as “pretty close” in my books.
• Finally, the Green Party also supports “search”. Of several articles, may I note “Victoria: Rally for Science!” from 2012.

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Let me admit that I have not pursued Canadian academic journals for statistical studies on our politicians’ views towards science, nor their comprehension of scientific principles.

Could you e-mail me a relevant link? I’d be more than happy to update this post, thank you, and share that link with our readers.

Professional Writing by DeHaan Services

DeHaan Services writes content or advertising copy for clients. Our skills are demonstrated in online articles in DeHaan Fitness, Decoded Science, Decoded Pregnancy, and other online sites. I also include writing tips in my Blog of Writing, where I also publicize my articles.  That’s why we highlight these online articles on this blog page.

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Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used to change your political affiliation or party preference in any upcoming election.

Thank you for reading about science comprehension among politicians.

After answering this question for Americans in my Decoded Science article, “Risk Assessment for Skydiving versus Grocery Shopping“, I decided to sketch an outline of how Canadians might assess the dangers of these two activities.

The Skydiving versus Grocery Shopping Question

The question for “Ask the Expert” was, Are you more likely to be killed while skydiving than on a trip to or from a grocery store?

A Quick Canadian Risk Assessment for Grocery Shopping versus Skydiving

We need to pick several numbers to assess these risks.

Skydiving

Let’s borrow the United States Parachute Association’s statistics for skydiving deaths in 2011 and 2012: 0.71 deaths per 100,000 jumps.

The Canadian Population and Grocery Trips

Statistics Canada reports the total Canadian population for the 2011 census. “On May 10, 2011, 33,476,688 people were enumerated in the 2011 Census of Population”.

I would argue that, on average, everyone travels to a grocery store once a week. Small children might go with a parent; some buy groceries several times a week; others eat in institutions. That makes 52 trips per year.

So we calculate the overall annual number of trips to a grocery store as “33,476,688 people * 52 weeks = 1,740,787,776 people-trips to grocery stores”.

On the other hand, we might average 10 trips per week each. Many would go to school or work 5 times per week. Social outings and pleasure jaunts account for others. The people who buy groceries are likely to also run other errands. That makes 17,407,877,760 Canadian trips annually.

So let’s say that 10% of the weekly trips are to grocery stores, but accidental death is equally likely regardless of the destination.

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Canadian Mortality Rates

I did not delve deeply enough into Stats Canada’s mortality tables, so let’s just use their 2009 figure of 10,250 accidental deaths from all causes in one year. (I used American accidents on land, which may have included slips and falls; but added homicides).

So let’s count “10,250 / 33,476,688 =  3 accidental deaths per 100,000 people” in one year. (By comparison, the USA has about 39 deaths/100,000 annually).

Let’s assume that 80% of these accidental deaths happened while traveling, whether on foot, by bicycle, car or whatever. That brings us down to “10,250 * 0.8 = 8,200 accidental travelling deaths per year”.

The rate of deaths from travelling is “8,200 /  17,407,877,760 = 0.047 deaths per 100,000 person-trips”. If one-tenth of those are trips to a grocery store, the rate is even lower: 0.0047 per 100,000.

My Conclusion to Buying Groceries versus Skydiving

There are lots of assumptions in this article, which serious digging into reliable statistics would resolve. This article shows a path to follow for those who want to learn how to assess simple risks.

My conclusion is that in Canada, you are much less likely to die in any one trip to a grocery store than in any one skydiving session.

Regardless, skydiving is remarkably safe. You’re much more likely to survive a parachute jump than to win the grand prize in Powerball (see “Winning Powerball Tickets in Arizona and Missouri: How to Calculate the (Slim) Odds“) or in 6/49 in Canada. (“How to Calculate Lottery Odds for 6/49 or Powerball“).

My other publicity entry for this article asks “Should Online Magazines or Bloggers Ask Questions?” since Decoded Science invites readers to make suggestions in that “Ask the Expert” section. That expands into my writing tip for the day.

If you’re in the market for used sports gear, eBay Canada is likely to offer you a discounted price.

Professional Writing by DeHaan Services

DeHaan Services writes web site or advertising copy for clients. Our skills are demonstrated in online articles in Decoded Science and Decoded Pregnancy. That’s why we highlight these online articles on this blog page.

To only see our Toronto events (for things to do in Toronto) or fitness articles, please click on the appropriate category in the “Categories” section at the bottom of the right-hand margin.

Thank you for reading about risk assessment for grocery shopping versus parachute jumping.

My recent Decoded Science article, “The Drake Equation Estimated the Scope of the SETI Project“, explains how one equation set the stage for the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. (ET, give us a call).

Can a Math Equation Estimate the Number of Stars with Alien Civilizations?

Scientists don’t want to say, “Look at all those stars! There’s so many, there must be alien life somewhere”. They want to make refined estimates.

The Drake Equation is one of several to estimate the number of aliens we might be able to detect.

My Decoded Science article discusses the factors in the Drake Equation, and what it specifically estimates.

What 3.4 Million Host Computers?

The Drake Equation gave the rationale for the SETI project.

SETI at Home distributes the workload of reviewing the data, as gathered by radio telescopes, to some 3.4 million host computers in people’s homes and in business offices. The stats as of June 27, 2013 show that’s how many host computers have been used by BOINC projects such as SETI at Home.

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Beyond Drake: a Toronto Connection

My article also discusses the “Seager Equation”, which estimates the number of exoplanets of which we might be able to detect biogasses. (If alien scientists near Alpha Centauri were to use Dr. Sara Seager’s techniques to detect free oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere, they could say “Aha! A 20% oxygen atmosphere is a clear sign that a lifeform is releasing O2 into the air”).

I was pleased to learn that Dr. Seager was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and earned her BSc at the University of Toronto. Harvard University granted her a PhD in Astronomy back in 1999; she now works at MIT as an astrophysicist. Still, she’s a Toronto connection in the rarefied world of exoplanet detection.

Professional Writing by DeHaan Services

DeHaan Services writes web site or advertising copy for clients. Our skills are demonstrated in online articles in Decoded Science and Decoded Pregnancy. That’s why we highlight these online articles on this blog page. My niche in Decoded Science is mathematics: both math theory, and how to apply math to practical problems.

Superscript and Subscript in WordPress

I needed ^superscript and _subscript text for that Decoded Science article. The WordPress online “Visual” editor does not support those text formats, so you have to use the “HTML” editor and type the tags directly. (The “Visual” editor supports bold, underline and italic, as well as heading levels). Learn more about these formatting tricks in the writing tip in my “Preview of the Drake Equation” blog post.

To only see our Toronto events (for things to do in Toronto) or fitness articles, please click on the appropriate category in the “Categories” section at the bottom of the right-hand margin.

If you’re looking for a compact telescope, Amazon carries the highly rated and well-priced Barska AE10100 Starwatcher 40070 Compact Refractor Telescope in Canada. It’s a portable refractor telescope with maximum 300x magnification and a tripod. The American version‘s reviewers noted that it is more suited to gazing at the moon than probing interstellar space. However the price is low, it’s sturdy enough for beginners to use without a lot of fuss, and is a good introductory telescope for beginners.

Thank you for reading about the Drake Equation, which launched SETI and SETI at home. Boldly search for alien life from the comfort of your home computer.