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In reply to the discussion: I'm The Duke University Freshman Porn Star And For The First Time I'm Telling The Story In My Words [View all]jeff47
(26,549 posts)Last edited Thu Feb 27, 2014, 12:17 AM - Edit history (1)
Let's say a study tells you 60% of porn actresses are mentally ill.
That could be the basis for, say, creating support infrastructure targeting porn actresses. Because you're dealing with the overall group, and can make a reasonable prediction that out of 100 stars, you'll find 60 mentally ill. If you happen to find 58 or 62, that wouldn't be surprising. If you found 6 or 97, that would be surprising.
What that study can't tell you is whether or not an individual porn actress is mentally ill. She could be in the 60% that's mentally ill, or she could be in the 40% that isn't. And that's still true even if the numbers in the study are very lopsided - that individual could be in the rare group.