] Josef Stalin once claimed that a single death is a
] tragedy, but a million deaths a mere statistic. Such
] cynicism should not be allowed to prevail, especially in
] a conflict in which many more lives are at stake. Iraq
] seems to be a case where more statistics are sorely
] needed.

The Economist takes a look at the 100,000 Iraqi deaths study.

] They interviewed a total of 7,868 people in 988
] households. But the relevant sample size for many
] purposes%u2014for instance, measuring the uncertainty of
] the analysis%u2014is 33, the number of clusters. That is
] because the data from individuals within a given cluster
] are highly correlated. Statistically, 33 is a relatively
] small sample (though it is the best that could be
] obtained by a small number of investigators in a country
] at war). That is the reason for the large range around
] the central value of 98,000, and is one reason why that
] figure might be wrong. (Though if this is the case, the
] true value is as likely to be larger than 98,000 as it is
] to be smaller.) It does not, however, mean, as some
] commentators have argued in response to this study, that
] figures of 8,000 or 194,000 are as likely as one of
] 98,000. Quite the contrary. The farther one goes from
] 98,000, the less likely the figure is.