Clarification would help, since “per capita“ means the average per person and is often used in place of "per person" in statistical observances. It’s why, when dealing with things like murder rates or such, to keep from using a tiny little decimal, statisticians usually multiply the result by 100,000 and give the result as the number of murders per 100,000 people.
So “American medical professionals have reported 218,579 tests per capita. ... the U.S. is also reporting 17,079 cases per capita.” ? Wow, we have really got it bad.
Why is this more than just a pedantic nitpick? Because when talking to people who are slow to acknowledge Trump’s lies one of the things they will jump on to ignore what you’re saying is if you use a term they don’t really understand the meaning of (like “per capita“) or, if they do understand, can dismiss you for misusing.
Clarification would help, since “per capita“ means the average per person and is often used in place of "per person" in statistical observances. It’s why, when dealing with things like murder rates or such, to keep from using a tiny little decimal, statisticians usually multiply the result by 100,000 and give the result as the number of murders per 100,000 people.
So “American medical professionals have reported 218,579 tests per capita. ... the U.S. is also reporting 17,079 cases per capita.” ? Wow, we have really got it bad.
Why is this more than just a pedantic nitpick? Because when talking to people who are slow to acknowledge Trump’s lies one of the things they will jump on to ignore what you’re saying is if you use a term they don’t really understand the meaning of (like “per capita“) or, if they do understand, can dismiss you for misusing.