Column totals do not add up in WT's stats

by dropoffyourkeylee 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  dropoffyourkeylee

  The WT yearbook stats for years 1988-2014 are available at the jw.org official site at:

  https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2fYNzAbUpqFb0VMdHA5RGNWYUk

  Toward the bottom of the page is the link to download the excel file with all the stats. I wasn't aware of it until yesterday. Expecially interesting is the one called 'Yearbook Stats by Field' which makes it easy to compare across years.

  A few observations about the 2015 figures, when added to the file (the file only goes back to 1988, so my comments below reflect that limitation):

  The ratio of peak publishers / ave publishers is the lowest from 1988 to 2015

  Number of baptized is lowest since 2005.

  Increase in Peak publishers is lowest from 1988 to 2015

  Increase in Ave Publishers is second lowest from 1988 to 2015

  Number Baptized as a percent of publishers is lowest from 1988 to 2015 <edited to add

  Interesting, but the question I have is, Why don't the columns add up to the published Grand Totals? It's not just one or two, but none of the columns are summed correctly. For instance, the 2014 total of baptisms Grand total is given as 275,581 but adding all the countries separately gives 276,122.

  It is apparent that the published Grand Totals are excluding something but it is not specified.

  Maybe their using that 1914 math again.
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  slimboyfat

  Are the banned countries included?
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  Vidiot

  So, not only are they making up numbers, they can't even add those numbers up correctly?
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  dropoffyourkeylee

  Are the banned countries included?

  
  

  Good question, The 'Other Countries' are supposedly included in the Grand Total, but it doesn't correct the summation error when you exclude the other countries.

  It's really screwy. For instance the 2014 memorial attendance Grand Total is 19,950,019, but when you add the column it comes to 20,000,549. The figure in the 'Other countries' is 67,963. So even if they excluded the other countries from the published grand total, the number still is not correct. This is the case for every column.

  I'm beginning to understand why the WT is in such financial difficulties if their math people are so inept.
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  Watchtower-Free

  BTTT
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  Beth Sarim

  From what I understand, the ''banned countries'' are not included. I believe that I was told over the years that the totals were only the published countries, with ''more to add with the excluded countries''. But that was years ago now, maybe it's different now.
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  WTS Archive

  Increase in Peak publishers is lowest from 1988 to 2015
  

  I have a file going back to 1970's, and the increase in peak publishers is actually lowest in 35 years. It was only lowest in 1978 when Watchtower suffered the aftermath of their failed 1975 prophecy.

  Also, these stats are not official, they were compiled by your fellow apostates from this forum (I forgot who exactly is the author though).
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  dropoffyourkeylee

  There are still huge disparities between the grand total they give and the summation of the columns above. Just one example, the Memorial attendance:

  
  
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  BluesBrother

  Looking at the Yearbooks, I was interested in the British figures. I see that despite all the hard work they have done and all the trolley carts etc - Britain had a zero % publisher increase in 2015......In 2014 there had been a small increase of 1%.

  This year baptisms were down on 2014 and the Memorial was attended by fewer people...

  Long may the trend continue !
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  dropoffyourkeylee

  An old program I just found. I'll try to get the other pages uploaded. there were 982 baptized in this 1973 assembly. How things have changed