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The Misuse, Misrepresentation, and Politicization of Statistics in American Society - Robert E. Parker

The Misuse, Misrepresentation, and Politicization of Statistics in American Society

Buch | Hardcover
146 Seiten
2022
Lexington Books (Verlag)
978-1-7936-2552-6 (ISBN)
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This book examines the measurement efforts of several government agencies responsible for some of the most widely watched social indicators on unemployment, life expectancy, crime, and population. It argues these official statistics are dubious at best, not so much objective barometers of social life but socially-constructed metrics.
The Misuse, Misrepresentation, and Politicization of Statistics in American Society critically examines the early measurement efforts of several government agencies responsible for some of the most widely watched social indicators on unemployment, life expectancy, crime, and population. It argues that official statistics are dubious at best, not so much as objective barometers of social life but rather arbitrary, highly-politicized, socially-constructed metrics that are easily manipulable and subject to misuse and misinterpretation. The book argues that official statistics powerfully frame social reality, ultimately helping to determine who counts and what matters in society. It makes the case that, as with other types of official accounts, data derived from government sources needs to be regarded skeptically and systematically investigated. The book concludes that official statistics are a kind of sanctioned cover up of everyday reality, hiding the true extent of joblessness, distorting the real increase in life expectancy, obscuring where crime actually happens, and hiding the undeniable growth of minority populations behind a facade.

Robert E. Parker is professor of sociology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Social Significance of Official Statistics

Chapter One: The BLS and the Underestimation of Unemployment

Chapter Two: The CDC and the Overestimation of Life Expectancy

Chapter Three: The FBI and the Miscalculation of Crime

Chapter Four: The Census Bureau and the Decennial Undercount

Chapter Five: Why Official Statistics Matter

Erscheinungsdatum
Verlagsort Lanham, MD
Sprache englisch
Maße 160 x 228 mm
Gewicht 386 g
Themenwelt Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie Empirische Sozialforschung
ISBN-10 1-7936-2552-2 / 1793625522
ISBN-13 978-1-7936-2552-6 / 9781793625526
Zustand Neuware
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