Chosen: Detainees in Guantanamo Bay Camps is a statistic we have had trouble finding recently so we have failed to include it the show for a while, but this number shouldn't be forgotten.

Source: The Guardian, 22 March, 2008

Submitted By: James

Chosen: I think I know three of them! Apparently there are also 100,000 on council waiting lists. I salute them all.

Source: The Guardian 22nd March, 2008

Submitted by: James

Chosen: Actually, this is "an estimated 60,000 pigeon fanciers" and so probably not allowed. What the hell use is it anyway I hear you ask? No idea.

Source: The Guardian 21/1/8

Submitted By: Amanda

Chosen: I heard it on the radio in an interview with the editor in chief of the Guinness book of records and it didn't ring any bells in my memory of the World Records section of our file. I thought there could be both funny and poignant comparisons. Presumably there were 3541 babies too.

Source: BBC Radio 2 / Guinness Records

Submitted By: Jack

Dan echoes many people suggesting we have pile of rice representing everyone who has seen the show.
We should really get our act together and try and collate this information. By now this number should be respectable enough to not be laughed at.

Naomi had this brilliant idea for a statistic. She can't believe there would be anyone in this pile. Unfortunately without paying for a survey (which we have no budget for) this seems – like all the most exciting ones – an unknowable statistic.

Eve is interested in the number of people studying to be in the clergy today vs 50 years ago. As she is curious about how the place of religion may have chanaged in our lives. A more complicated research question, but a good one, might be to add a geographic dimension to this query – and explore the rise of certain African States as centres of Christianity whilst Western European states become 'less Christian'.

Thanks Eve, we'll do some digging and may be able to use the results in New York soon.

Chosen: I don't know.

Source: http://www.nypost.com/seven/10222007/news/regionalnews/cabbies_to_strike_it_rich.htm

Submitted By: Ethan

Chosen: Because I wanted to know.

Source: http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/ipc/pcwe

Submitted By: Ethan

Danielle wants to know how many people in the world are called Daniell because she is called Danielle, which is a valid question but another tough one to research. In the current version of the show there are some name based statistics on view. Slovenia is unusual, it has an amazing publicly accessible database allowing you to search for the frequency of particular names in the country. We've checked, there don't seem to be any Danielle's in Slovenia but there are 460 women who share the name Marija Novak. So now you know!

Chosen: Many people do not realize how many people around the world are hungry. It is possible that someone will donate money to the Red Cross or another charitable organization and help combat starvation. People can donate free food by visiting http://www.thehungersite.com and clicking a link. The fight against starvation is only a click away."

Source: www.worldometers.info

Submitted by: Surbhi Patel

Allison Stone is interested in how many children get their photograph taken with Santa in a mall in the United States. She thinks Christmas has become too commercialised and having your photograph taken with a Mall Santa has become too important for some kids.

That's a great idea but a tough one to research, maybe we need to go an ask just one mall and people can imagine what it woudl be like scaled up. How many actors play Santa in the U.S. each year would also be a good one and tough to find. I suspect that closer to Christmas Day we will be seeing a pile of rice represeting the World's Largest Gathering of Santa Clauses (does an Elf count as a Sub-Clause).

Chosen: It is interesting to know the least populated conuntry/region in the world.

Source: United Nations World Population Prospects

Submitted By: Danielle Cosme

Danielle Cosme submitted a statistic about people being pushed into poverty though payments for health care. The World Health Organization have gathered the numbers, but we need to define them a bit more tightly before we use them.

Chosen: 1 in 4 Americans will suffer from a mental disorder (most commonly depression, but also bipolar disorder, OCD, Schizophrenia, etc...), yet most insurance companies won't cover medication or therapy. Many homeless are mentally ill and mental illness is the leading cause of disability in the United States. Mental illness clearly causes economic and social problems, and some people won't even admit that mental diseases exist (I have been diagnosed with several which impact my life severely, and I am told frequently by friends and sometimes even total strangers that I should just "snap out of it".). Maybe if people realized that Mental Health is serious and affects everyone (directly or indirectly), larger steps could be taken to understand and treat these diseases.

Source: The National Institute of Mental Health

Submitted By: Mallory

We've had another enquiry about what happens to the rice after December 30 when we've finished with it.
Well the unopened bags, and we estimate there will be a minimum of 7 tonnes of this, are to be given to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and the remainder are being given to a local (or as local as you can get in L.A.) farmer who will feed it to their cattle.

This is obviously a key question. We won't do the show unless we are reassured by the venue's answer to that question.
One day we should sit down and calculate how much rice has been donated to good causes through the show.

Thanks for your interest and concern.

James

Comparison: Children Under The Age Of 1 In The US Whose Lives Are Claimed By Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Each Year: 2500

Chosen: Our son, Grant Shveima, died suddenly this year at the age of 15 months. After a complete coroner's investigation, we were told that autopsy results were normal and that the cause of death was "undetermined." Like SIDS, SUDC is a diagnosis of exclusion. It is more rare than SIDS and public awareness of SUDC is only now beginning to grow. The Skirball community rallied around us when we endured this heartbreaking loss and so I hope the installation can bring even greater awareness to these causes of death in our very youngest segments of the population.

Source: www.cjsids.com and www.sudc.org

Submitted By: Erik and Mia

Chosen: One of those stats that reinforces individuality and challenges your expectations.

Source: BBC News Online

Submitted By: Alison Carney

Stephanie Hopkins submitted a statistic that 24% of potential home owners can't afford to buy an entry level home in California. Unfortunately we couldn't find a way of translating this statistic into a usable form for the show as the total number of potential home owners is impossible to pin down. This suggestion has however inspired us to look into other housing related issues in the State.

James