The Straight Dope 07/11/2003

The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
http://www.straightdope.com
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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 07/11/2003

Dear Cecil:

Someone asked this question on another message board
I go to. I'm asking it here because the other message
board is mostly about video games and I figured
someone here would have a better idea.
1/3 = .333~
2/3 = .666~
3/3 = .999~
But: 3/3 = 1
So why doesn't .999~ = 1? --Lint6,
via the Straight Dope Message Board

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Cecil replies:

I won't be the first to say this, Lint (boy, there's
a screen name that bespeaks an ambivalent
self-image), but:

It does.

Before we get into the reasoning, some preliminaries:

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030711.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

Many companies today are adopting "behavioral interviewing"
as their surefire way to get to the meat and potatoes of a 
job candidate. Proponents assure you that using it is as
good as guaranteeing that the best person will be hired
for the job. As BI's public enemy #1, I say it's something
that has been well marketed and is being adopted without
a second thought, but no one's checking the results. What
I dislike (as both the interviewer and the interviewee):
it doesn't tell how a person will consistently perform on
the job or behave from day to day. The job goes to the one
who interviews well, not the one that performs well on
the job. 

I remember my statistics teacher admonishing us never to make
a decision based on a single observation when assessing the
many. BI is only about one incident for every situation. My
question: are there any studies or comparisons of companies
using this method to those using others in terms of employee
turnover, ratings and job satisfaction? Is there a
statistically significant decline in firings or corrective
actions where BI is used when contrasted with those that do
not? Rescue me from the BI nightmare! 

By the way, best way to wow 'em in a BI is get some sample
questions from the Internet for the job type for which you
will interview and apply a good example, whether the
experience is your own, that of someone you know, or, for
the more creative, a work of fiction. Unsubstantiatable and
self-serving stories are the most effective tools in landing
the job. --B. K., Phoenix, AZ 

SDSTAFF Dex replies:

I'm going out on a limb here, but my guess is you didn't
get the job.

For more, see: 

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbehavioralint.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 10/11/1978

Dear Cecil: 

Remember the rumors that circulated when Goldfinger first
came out? Well, we do, and we'd like to know if they have
in any basis in fact: if your skin is covered with gold
paint (or any other color paint, for that matter), will
you die as a direct or indirect result? Why?
-- Columbia, Jackson Park, Chicago

Dear Columbia: 

As I recall, the consensus at the time the movie appeared
was that you would die of asphyxiation somehow. There was
a notion abroad in those days that you breathed through
your skin. Well, science--or at least the popular
understanding of it--has made mighty strides since those
early years, and it is now known that you do not breathe
through your skin. You breathe through your mouth and nose.

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_221b.html
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