With that question, the NBA was off to create a digital database through which fans can access over 4.5 quadrillion combinations of stats from 500 different statistical categories.

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He noted how Lin's performance in two unsexy statistical categories two-point field-goal percentage (a barometer of inside scoring ability) and RSB40 (rebounds, steals and blocks per 40 minutes) compared favorably with college numbers put up by marquee NBA guards like Allen Iverson and Gary Payton.

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To determine the best city for couples, we collected data for 40 of the largest metropolitan statistical areas for five different categories: marriages per 1, 000 people, divorces per 1, 000 people, starter-home affordability, income disparity and availability of couple's or family counseling.

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These categories originated with Keynes and have been adopted by most of the statistical agencies of the world.

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Last month 49, 000 consumers self-selected among 598 brands in 83 diverse categories in which they are customers, and assessed brands based on an independently-validated technique that fuses rational and emotional aspects of the categories, using a combination of psychological inquiry and higher-order statistical analyses.

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Many of the study's categories, he pointed out, are based on surveys of executives rather than statistical data, and so are influenced by their respondents' biases.

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