In this discussion we will discuss and critically evaluate the following claim u

Question

In this discussion we will discuss and critically evaluate the following claim used in Keystone's advertising: “92 percent of Keystone graduates have a job or are enrolled in graduate school a year after graduation, with 85 percent employed and 7 percent enrolled in graduate school. What's more, of those who are employed, 88% are working in the field of their choice. (Percentages based on Keystone's placement report for students who earned a bachelor's degree in the recent year.)” For your initial post, please comment on where you think this statistic comes from, and what kinds of potential issues there may be with the statistic.

Explanation / Answer

Answering to where I think this statistic comes from:

1) At the end of the term the Keystone University would have its numbers ready with people who've got job offers before graduating as they make them mandatorily fill up their employment details before they leave.

2) Periodically, mostly with a period of 3 months, they mail their unemployed graduates asking them if they have a job yet. So that totally depends on the graduate and his willingness to answer the survey to the best of his ability.

So, the statistics gathered results from the above two factors in my opinion.  

The potential issues arising with the statistic would be:

1) With the purpose of giving prospective applicants an idea of the employment scenario, the numbers A YEAR after graduation seems a bit flawed. A whole calendar year is quite a long time and you'd expect most of your graduates to be employed in that time duration anyway. This could've been better stated if they gave the pre-graduation employment numbers as well to substantiate.

2) We don't infer if employment is gained through the college or outside of it, if the college has played a major role in the student getting a job. To motivate the student into joining the college, the college could've implied that they played a role as well and it wasn't just the student irrespective of his university.

3) Mentioning the 7 percent enrolled in graduate school, there can be a very likely scenario where they did go to graduate school because of their inability to get a job. To deny this inference, Keystone may additionally add a few reaffirming words.

4) Also, although 88% working in the field of their choice sounds great, it doesn't really add additional weight to the argument. It's quite rare that someone says they're not working in a field of their choice as you would apply for a job in a field of your choice anyway unless it's a different unforeseen scenario. So unless, there's an issue of graduates in the area not normally getting jobs of their choice of field, the mere statement added to the argument lends a little uncertainty to the overall purpose.  

Cheers!

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