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Originally Posted By: latishyaOriginally Posted By: doc_comfortI thought the crux of the question involved the fact that, when there are many possible options within a category, a situation may arise where no single option has more than 50%. ie a population separated along racial lines might have...
40% blue
25% pink
20% purple
15% green
The blue people might have the largest number, but they would not be called the majority, would they? I would say they're the largest minority, but I was hoping someone would have a sexy term to encompass that concept.
I thought "plurality" was used in this context?
It depends on the context. It is a plurality in the context of voting, as for example in a parliament, or an election. However, in a statistical context, it would be proper to call the largest number (or largest percentage) a majority.
In my American English dictionary, "majority" is the third definition for "plurality."
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