An Example of Statistics in Action

An anecdote, related to an earlier discussion of divorce statistics.

Once upon a time, I was sitting at a table with eight friends.

There were three sets. Set one had one member: an unmarried male. Set two had six members: three couples married to each other, with no divorces. Set three had one member: a young lady who had been married six times, and divorced four times. (She was currently married, and had been widowed once.) 

Eight people and four divorces meant that the divorce rate at that ...