Damned Lies And Statistics - 01 edition

Best, Joel : University of Delaware

Joel Best is Professor and Chair of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware and author of Random Violence.

"Invaluable counsel for good citizenship."

--Booklist

"Joel Best is at it again. In Damned Lies and Statistics, he shows how statistics are manipulated, mismanaged, misrepresented, and massaged by officials and other powerful groups to promote their agendas. He is a master at examining taken-for-granted "facts" and debunking them through careful sociological scrutiny."

--Patricia Adler, author of Peer Power

"This informative and well-written little book will be a particularly worthwhile addition to libraries' collections and will help all readers become savvier and more critical news consumers."

--Publishers Weekly

"Whether we like them or not, we have to live with statistics, and Damned Lies and Statistics offers a useful guide for engaging with their troublesome world. Despite the temptation to be cynical, the author of this timely and excellent work cautions the reader against reacting in such a way to statistics. What we are offered is an approach that helps us to work out the real story behind those numbers."

--the Independent

"Deserves a place next to the dictionary on every school, media, and home-office desk."

--Boston Globe editorial

"A clearly written primer for the statistically impaired. It is as important to discussions of public policy as any book circulating today."

--Christian Science Monitor

"Definitely a must for politicians, activists and others who generate or use statistics, but especially for those who want to think for themselves rather than take as gospel every statistic presented to them."

--New Scientist

"Damned Lies and Statistics is highly entertaining as well as instructive. Best's book shows how some of those big numbers indicating big social problems were created in the first place and instructs the reader (and reporter) how to be on guard against such gross manipulation. And it doesn't take an understanding of advanced mathematics to do so thanks to this book, which ought to be required reading in every newsroom in the country."

--the Washington Times

"Best is our leading authority on social problems today. His detective work in exposing the spurious use of statistics is essential to constructive social science. No one who speaks for the public welfare can ignore his powerful work."

--Jonathan B. Imber, Editor-in-Chief, Society

The University of California Press Web Site, Aug., 2001

Introduction: The Worst Social Statistic Ever

1 The Importance of Social Statistics
2 Soft Facts: Sources of Bad Statistics
3 Mutant Statistics: Methods for Mangling Numbers
4 Apples and Oranges: Inappropriate Comparisons
5 Stat Wars: Conflicts over Social Statistics
6 Thinking about Social Statistics: The Critical Approach

Notes
Index