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gmcg_abidesII t1_j7pkq2g wrote

Reply to comment by 1010lala1010lala in Vermont’s rates of homelessness are (almost) the worst in the country by DaddyBobMN

Thank you. This is a really important point. While nobody should underestimate the seriousness of Vermont's housing problems, the stunning "second worst" ranking in the HUD report is almost certainly an artifact of idiosyncratic data collection. All bar graphs are not created equal.

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lilaprilshowers t1_j7qg4ai wrote

"Once data becomes a metric it no longer functions as data."

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EscapedAlcatraz t1_j7qig4d wrote

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

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lilaprilshowers t1_j7qzirt wrote

I don't think the HUD is deliberately setting out to deceive people. But if Vermont is rigorously counting every person in a shelter, hotel room, and encampment than it's data will be more accurate but appear worse then some one from, say Nebraska, idk, who sends one person out to an encampment and says,"well this seems like 200 people."

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