Open AccessJournal Article
The politics of numbers.
William Alonso,Paul Starr,Farley R,Allen Wr,Gérard Bouchard,Raymond Roy,Casgrain B,Miller L,Chavkin W,Busner C,McLaughlin M +10 more
TLDR
In this article, the authors focus on the social and political significance of decisions concerning data collection measurement interpretation and presentation and the relationship between the functions of statistics and the characteristics of democratic politics, and the connections between statistics and various levels of U.S. government.Abstract:
This study undertaken for the National Committee for Research on the 1980 Census is one in a series of volumes concerned with analyses of the results of the 1980 U.S. census. The present volume differs from others in the series in that it focuses not on the data itself but on the governmental system of data collection and analysis. The focus here is on the social and political significance of decisions concerning data collection measurement interpretation and presentation. Part 1 on the politics of economic measurement contains chapters on the different views of economic statistics held by governmental political and academic professionals; the politics of income measurement; and the development of national income accounting. Part 2 is on the politics of population measurement; chapters are included on the 1980 census in historical perspective politics and the measurement of ethnicity and the social and political context of population forecasting. Part 3 focuses on the relationship between the functions of statistics and the characteristics of democratic politics. Part 4 deals with the connections between statistics and various levels of U.S. government. Part 5 contains chapters on technological developments and their consequences and on the rise of the statistical services industry.read more
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A Sociology of Quantification
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Toward a different debate in environmental accounting: The cases of carbon and cost–benefit
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Biases in the interpretation and use of research results.
TL;DR: This essay examines attempts to use science to study science: specifically, bias in the interpretation and use of empirical research findings, and examines theory and research on a range of cognitive and motivational mechanisms for bias.
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Enhancing Statistical Literacy: Enriching Our Society
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the importance of statistical literacy in improving statistical literacy and enriching the society, and propose an approach for enhancing statistical literacy. Journal of the American Statistical Association: Vol. 88, No. 421, pp. 1-8.
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Distributive politics and the allocation of federal grants
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyze the distributional patterns and their determinants of federal grant allocations over time and point out the importance of disaggregation by focusing on programs and recipient jurisdictions, as opposed to total federal expenditures and regions, states, or congressional districts.