Headlines are powerful things these days where news is faster than ever coming from multiple sources. However its always good to look at the detail of a report to make sure the distance you jump in making conclusions isn't as great. For an example the BBC - Shopper numbers fell in December, says the BRC.
First off the BRC are the British Retail Consortium who represent British retailers (as one would expect). Its always helpful to know the source of the info.
Second the headline is a summary of all the data and so the headline is a summary statement. In reality some parts of the country are doing (Scotland, London and Northern Ireland) and others not (Wales, East of England).
Third - data is presented as percentage increases/decreases.
Taking the second and third point a few questions arise. What were the actual numbers, not the percentages? The answer would show if the real number of shoppers has either dropped or moved - an increase in London by 1% and a decrease in Wales by 1% does not cancel each other out due to the population (starting data) differences.
The next point of order is terminology. Helen Dickinson - director general of the BRC talks of 'difficulties in many or our town centres'. If you look at the specifics from the BRC themselves http://www.brc.org.uk/brc_news_detail.asp?id=2372&kCat=&kData=1 the decrease on the High Street was the least affected (Shopping centres reported the greatest fall (-2.8%), followed by out-of-town (-1.0%) and high street (-0.5%) locations.)
The devil is the detail but people love a quick headline.
John
BlueOak_
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