Damned Lies and Statistics

出版者:University of California Press

作者:Joel Best

页数:190

出版时间:2001-5-8

价格:USD 24.95

装帧:Hardcover

isbn号码:9780520219786

具体描述

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.

用户评价

教会读者思考的书之一

统计数据往往被当作事实的真实反映而被人们全盘接受，正因如此统计更容易被政府，公司或社会活动家当作实现自己目的的工具。以前特别怕听到那种“给我数据你想要什么结论我都能弄出来”的言论，本书教你如何辨别类似的统计陷阱，看到数据时不盲目相信，多溯源多考证多问研究步骤，写得也特别通俗全是说的人话。Statistics are not magical. Nor are they always true--or always false.

是这个理——数据是怎么生产的，怎么解读的，怎么在生产和解读的过程中被扭曲的……问题是作者为了写得简单易读用了很多虚构的打比方，实际的case比较少。但是对于想要不被统计局忽悠的同学来说非常有用了（

统计数据往往被当作事实的真实反映而被人们全盘接受，正因如此统计更容易被政府，公司或社会活动家当作实现自己目的的工具。以前特别怕听到那种“给我数据你想要什么结论我都能弄出来”的言论，本书教你如何辨别类似的统计陷阱，看到数据时不盲目相信，多溯源多考证多问研究步骤，写得也特别通俗全是说的人话。Statistics are not magical. Nor are they always true--or always false.

教会读者思考的书之一