Damned Lies and Statistics: Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians, and Activists

Best, Joel

ISBN 10: 0520219783 / ISBN 13: 9780520219786

Published by Berkeley. University of California Press, 2001

About this Item

Berkeley. University of California Press. 2001. First Edition/First Printing. (1 in number line on copyright page). Joel Best's classic guide to understanding how numbers can confuse us. It has emerged as the go-to handbook for spotting bad statistics and learning to think critically about these influential numbers.

Seller Inventory # FEB10018

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Damned Lies and Statistics: Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians, and Activists
• Publisher: Berkeley. University of California Press
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0520219783
• ISBN 13: 9780520219786
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: As New
• Seller catalogs:
  • academic, social science

About this title

Synopsis

Does the number of children gunned down double each year? Does anorexia kill 150,000 young women annually? Do white males account for only a sixth of new workers? Startling statistics shape our thinking about social issues. But all too often, these numbers are wrong. This book is a lively guide to spotting bad statistics and learning to think critically about these influential numbers. Damned Lies and Statistics is essential reading for everyone who reads or listens to the news, for students, and for anyone who relies on statistical information to understand social problems.

Joel Best bases his discussion on a wide assortment of intriguing contemporary issues that have garnered much recent media attention, including abortion, cyberporn, homelessness, the Million Man March, teen suicide, the U.S. census, and much more. Using examples from the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other major newspapers and television programs, he unravels many fascinating examples of the use, misuse, and abuse of statistical information.

In this book Best shows us exactly how and why bad statistics emerge, spread, and come to shape policy debates. He recommends specific ways to detect bad statistics, and shows how to think more critically about "stat wars," or disputes over social statistics among various experts. Understanding this book does not require sophisticated mathematical knowledge; Best discusses the most basic and most easily understood forms of statistics, such as percentages, averages, and rates.

This accessible book provides an alternative to either naively accepting the statistics we hear or cynically assuming that all numbers are meaningless. It shows how anyone can become a more intelligent, critical, and empowered consumer of the statistics that inundate both the social sciences and our media-saturated lives.

About the Author

Joel Best is Professor and Chair of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware and author of Random Violence (California, 1999), among other books.