Question

Are these two claims equivalent, in conflict, or not comparable because they’re talking about different things?

a. “Every year since 1950, the number of American children gunned down has doubled.”

b. “The number of child gunshot deaths has doubled from 1950 to 1994.”

Answer 1

They are in conflict.

Explanation:

for statement (a) we have child gunshot deaths doubling every year. So if it was 1 death in 1950, it is 2 in 1951, 4 in 1952, 8 in 1953, 16 in 1954. That would make the deaths in 1994 = (deaths in 1950) x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 ... with 44 factors of 2. That number is over a trillion.

for statement (b) we have child gunshot deaths doubling over a period of 44 years, which might even be true