solving simple math debate: If someone told you that 1% of US population has PhD,...

OllieDuf

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This is not a very complicated question, but need to settle a debate. This is the statement and my question.

Statement: If someone told you that 1% of the US population has a PhD. Would it then be accurate to state that 1 out of 100 people in the US has a PhD?

It doesn't matter if there's 325,000,000 people in the US or 100 people in the US. 1% is always 1%, correct?
 
This is not a very complicated question, but need to settle a debate. This is the statement and my question.

Statement: If someone told you that 1% of the US population has a PhD. Would it then be accurate to state that 1 out of 100 people in the US has a PhD?

It doesn't matter if there's 325,000,000 people in the US or 100 people in the US. 1% is always 1%, correct?

Yes, saying that 1% of set A has property B is the same as saying that 1 out of 100 elements of A has B. That is, "1 out of 100", in English, means "on the average, 1 out of every 100", or "one part in 100", or "1/100 of the group".

As I perceive it, this is primarily an English language question. What is the argument you are being given on the other side? And is this exactly what is being debated, or is it your interpretation of the crux of the issue? In the latter case, what is the actual debate about?

I ask this because one random person's opinion doesn't generally settle a debate! You need to talk about reasons.
 
This is not a very complicated question, but need to settle a debate. This is the statement and my question.

Statement: If someone told you that 1% of the US population has a PhD. Would it then be accurate to state that 1 out of 100 people in the US has a PhD?

It doesn't matter if there's 325,000,000 people in the US or 100 people in the US. 1% is always 1%, correct?
% means out of 100, so 1% means 1 out of 100, regardless how many 100's there are.
 
… 1% of the US population has a PhD. Would it then be accurate to state that 1 out of 100 people in the US has a PhD? …
Yes, as long as both phrases "people in the US" and "US population" represent the same number.

The phrase "1 out of 100 people" is a generalization, comparing the number 1 to the number 100. (When reading the '100 people' part, don't think of it as 'any group of 100 people'.)

And, yes, 1% always means a hundredth, regardless of the numbers being compared. Each of the following comparisons (ratios) reduces to 1/100. Therefore, the first number in each is a hundredth (1%) of the second number.

1 out of 100

5 out of 500

30 out of 3,000

4/500 out of 4/5

5,005 out of 500,500

888,888.88 out of 88,888,888

3¼ million out of 325 million
 
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