On Nov 11, 2007 8:33 AM, Rahul Gonsalves <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On 10-Nov-07, at 6:33 PM, Gunlaug Sørtun wrote: > > > Rahul Gonsalves wrote: > >> I'm searching for first-hand, authoritative statistics on colour > >> blindness, for use in a formal, academic document. Would anyone be > >> able to point me in the right direction?
Hi Rahul, I've also seen the 8% figure frequently cited but, like you, have never been able to find a reference for it. I'd like to know the source(s) for this figure, because I'd like to know what group was assessed. Is that U.S. males? North American males? North American caucasian males? (If the study was done in the USA pre-1950, it wouldn't be unusual to find that it ignored certain ethnic groups.) I would be surprised to learn that the 8% figure is applicable worldwide in all populations. Furthermore, how did the author(s) of the study(s) define color vision deficiency? As I understand it, color vision ability is on a spectrum ranging from tetrachromacy on the high end to complete color blindness on the low end. Where's the cutoff point on that line that defines "deficiency"? Maybe these are not the right questions to ask. I'm not a color vision expert, or a color expert or even a vision expert. My point is that the 8% figure is too neat to seem real, and I'll bet the reality of the situation is more nuanced and interesting. For anyone interested in the subject, Oliver Sacks' _Island of the Colorblind_ is an enjoyable read. -- Philip http://NikitaTheSpider.com/ Whole-site HTML validation, link checking and more ******************************************************************* List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *******************************************************************
