What is that reference in cell F16 all about?
If you leave out the $ symbols in the denominator, Excel will return the error message #DIV/0. That error code is Excel reminding you of an old math rule: You can’t divide a number by zero — it’s undefined. (Think limits in calculus.) If you don’t “anchor” the cell using the “$” symbol, the formula will pull from the next one down, which it reads as a blank or zero.
What jet plane was featured in the 1986 hit movie, “Top Gun,” starring Tom Cruise? (Careful, it’s a trick question…)
It was actually an F-14 Tomcat, which was retired by the Navy in 2006, not an F-16 Fighting Falcon, which are still in service. (The U.S. used F-16s in Iraq, and Afghanistan and, more recently, Libya.)
How do these compare to the general population, according to Census Bureau figures?
The U.S. military’s homicide rate in 2010 was 2.3 per 100,000 active-duty service members, according to the data, while the U.S. civilian murder rate in 2009 was 5.0 per 100,000 residents, according to Census.
What are the pros and cons of making such a comparison?
The pro is there may be an opportunity to do some myth-busting here: Violent crime as measured by this variable seems to be higher among civilians than among active-duty troops. But let’s give this a closer look. One obvious issue is we’re not comparing the same years. We should be comparing data from 2009 or 2010, not both.
There are other questions we should also ask ourselves (and editors). For example, the military demographic is overwhelmingly young and male, so it makes sense to compare it to a similar slice of the civilian demographic. Also, look at the number of deaths in the “pending” and “undetermined” categories. If all those ended up being homicides (unlikely, but just playing skeptic), the military homicide rate would more than double to 5 per 100,000 troops. What to do? Run your work by people who have studied the issue — academics, military sociologists, authors, think-tank types, etc. If you come up with similar figures, you’ll know you’re safe. If they’re wildly different, you may decide the military statistics aren’t reliable — but then you’ll have something to ask the defense secretary, a general and/or lawmaker!
