Stuthtical Invest i(/at ions 



103 



Some good illustrutiona of the merit and defect of the ocrlve-MifdIuii 

 inethotl may be found in a further paj)er published in 1907. 

 In "Vox populi'" Galton l)egin8 by stating that 



"ill tliosfi democratic diiys any iiiv(>Htigation into the trustworthiness and peculiarities of popular 

 jiul^'nu'iits i.M of interest," 



and proceeds to illustrate the "Vox populi" by discussing the 787 answers 

 {riven in a weij^ht-judging conipotitlon at the Wast of England Annual Fat 

 Stock Show at I'lymouth. The judgments turned on what a selectinl fat ox 

 would weigh after being slaughtered and dressed. Galton considers that 

 the entrance fee of Cut. and the hope of a prize deterred practicid joking an<l 

 that the judgments would be largely those of butchers and farmere ex- 

 perienced ui tne matter. 



"The judgments wore unbiased by passion and uninfluence<l l>y oratory and the like.... 

 The averagu compi^titor was proljabiy as well titted for making a Just estimate of the dr cMo d 

 weight of the ox, as an average voter is to judge the merits of most political issues on which he 



votes." 



Galton gives the following table of results and the diagram on paje 404 : 



Distribution of the cstiiiuitcs of tlie (Ireaaed ireiyht of a particular Liviny ox, 



made by 787 different jH'rsoiui. 



9,, q,, the 6rst and third quartiles, stand at 25* and 76* reapeotively. 

 m, the median or middlemost value, stands at 50°. 

 The dressed weight proved t<» lie 1198 lbs. 



' Xature, Vol. Lxxv, pp. 460-51, March 7, 1907. 



51—2 



