Joel Best
Damned Lies and Statistics
Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians, and Activists
$21.95, £14.95 hardcover
9780520219786
Available Now
199 pages, 5-1/2 x 8-1/4 inches, 6 tables
May 2001, Available worldwide
Also in: Politics; Sociology of Popular Culture
May 2001, Available worldwide
Also in: Politics; Sociology of Popular Culture
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.
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.
"Invaluable counsel for good citizenship."—Booklist
"There's a 73 percent chance that the University of Delaware prof has got our number."—San Diego Union-Tribune
"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
"The narrative flows easily, and all the points are driven home with engaging examples from real life. I found Best's book a delight. Always engaging, it is accessible to a lay reader, yet will reward the expert; the examples it gives could enrich both a primary schoolroom and a university lecture hall."—Nature
"There's a 73 percent chance that the University of Delaware prof has got our number."—San Diego Union-Tribune
"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
"The narrative flows easily, and all the points are driven home with engaging examples from real life. I found Best's book a delight. Always engaging, it is accessible to a lay reader, yet will reward the expert; the examples it gives could enrich both a primary schoolroom and a university lecture hall."—Nature
"[An] absolutely fascinating and sobering quest into the fantastic differences between the world as it is and the world as it is portrayed in the statistics the media use. . . .This book is simply a must."—Nachman Ben-Yehuda, author of The Masada Myth
"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
"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
"A real page turner. Best is the John Grisham of sociology!"—James Holstein, author of The New Language of Qualitative Method
"In our era, numbers are as much a staple of political debates as stories. And just as stories so often turn into fables, so Best shows that we often believe the most implausible of numbers--to the detriment of us all."—Peter Reuter, co-author of Drug War Heresies: Learning from Other Vices,Times and Places
"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
"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
"A real page turner. Best is the John Grisham of sociology!"—James Holstein, author of The New Language of Qualitative Method
"In our era, numbers are as much a staple of political debates as stories. And just as stories so often turn into fables, so Best shows that we often believe the most implausible of numbers--to the detriment of us all."—Peter Reuter, co-author of Drug War Heresies: Learning from Other Vices,Times and Places
Acknowledgments
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
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
ABC News interview with the author (Click 6/27--Joel Best)
Media Bestsellers
