There has been no census in Iraq for 16 years, making precise figures difficult to obtain.
Conversions to Christianity have become common (though a cautious Catholic church does not give precise figures).
Burma experts are trying to establish precise figures for prisoners, as estimates vary.
This also means that it is hard to give precise figures relating the amount of winding time to calling time.
Rescue officials also say they do not know exactly how many people are still missing as factory owners have not given them precise figures.
The government says it will compensate police forces for work done in the run up to the cull, but precise figures have not been revealed.
It is expecting an even better 2012, with 15% growth. (The strategy firms are private partnerships that release few precise figures.) One reason is rapid growth in emerging markets.
Precise figures are hard to come by, but according to Erik Nicholson, national vice-president for the United Farm Workers' union, as many as 70% of American agricultural workers may be undocumented.
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No precise sales figures are available but the Associated Press has quoted Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow as saying that some 40, 000 sales have been completed through the scheme, with dealers estimating that a further 200, 000 deals are in the pipeline.
It is difficult to be precise with the figures as countries use different starting points and different criteria.
Because they could co-ordinate their efforts with the campaigns, Republicans could create precinct lists, with targets for voter turnout precise to two decimal figures.
Every year, Japan's national policy agency publishes figures listing the precise number of yakuza gangs and gangsters.
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But at some point the advertisers will insist on some precise performance measurements, going far beyond the circulation figures and Nielsen ratings they are getting now on the old media.
Whatever the precise numbers, they're clearly more complex than the simple figures being bandied around by the pipeline's corporate and political backers might imply.
Until we have a precise diagnostic test for ADD, however, it will be impossible to give truly accurate figures.
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