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framing

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    Statistical Illusions Entry #0434

    Why a percentage change needs its starting point

    A fifty per cent increase from two is one. A fifty per cent increase from two million is one million. The percentage is identical; the meaning is not.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0434

    A percentage without a base is not a statistic. It is a frame looking for a denominator the reader will supply.

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    Framing Effects Entry #0507

    Why per day pricing beats per month

    The same annual sum, printed in a finer unit, becomes a smaller number with nothing to compare it against. Rivals are all quoted per month.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0507

    Granularity is a lever. A price stated in a finer unit is not only a smaller number, it is a number nobody holds a benchmark for.

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    Narrative Structure Entry #0536

    Why the same events make two opposite stories

    Nothing is added and nothing is removed. The emphasis shifts, and the story reverses. A narrative is a selection, not a summary.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0536

    A narrative is not a summary. It is a selection. Two opposite stories from the same events are not a failure of reporting; they are a demonstration of how reporting works.

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    Framing Effects Entry #0504

    The reason a tax and a fee are treated differently

    The same charge attracts more resistance when it is called a tax than when it is called a fee or a levy. The label carries a moral category the number does not.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0504

    The label assigns a moral category. Exchange invites payment; extraction invites resistance, at the same price.

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    Framing Effects Entry #0506

    The reason time framing changes charitable giving

    Two appeals for one cause. The one that asks about time before it asks about money collects more money, and the money request comes second.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0506

    The first unit named sets the terms of the whole request. Time invites meaning; money invites arithmetic.

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    Rhetoric & Omission Entry #0590

    Why a false dilemma survives scrutiny

    Detecting a missing option requires generating it. Nothing in the presented pair points at what is absent, so careful examination of two choices finds two choices.

    Master
    The hidden part #0590

    A missing option cannot be found by examining the options. It has to be generated by someone who stopped looking at them.

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    Framing Effects Entry #0517

    Why the word only reframes any number

    Only asserts that a quantity falls below an expectation. The expectation is never stated, so the reader accepts the comparison without ever seeing what it was against.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0517

    Only does not describe a quantity. It asserts that a quantity is below a benchmark the reader is left to invent.

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    Framing Effects Entry #0515

    Why a deadline framed as an opportunity underperforms

    Register by Friday to secure your place and register by Friday or lose your place describe one deadline. Only the second one recruits the faster motivational system.

    Master
    The hidden part #0515

    A deadline does not motivate by its date. It motivates by whether the reader believes they currently hold the thing.

    Open file
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    Brand Language Entry #0489

    The reason a brand adopts the language of its critics

    Adopting the critic’s vocabulary is not a concession. Once the firm supplies the definition, the word can no longer be used against it as an outside standard.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0489

    Adopting your critic’s word does not concede their standard. It relocates the standard inside your own report.

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    Framing Effects Entry #0525

    Why a neutral description is itself a frame

    Every description selects a level of detail, a boundary and a vocabulary. Choosing not to editorialise does not remove those choices, it conceals them.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0525

    Neutral prose still picks the subject, the verb and the boundary. It is the most effective frame because it offers nothing to disagree with.

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