Research Catalog
Stat-spotting : a field guide to identifying dubious data
- Title
- Stat-spotting : a field guide to identifying dubious data / Joel Best.
- Author
- Best, Joel.
- Publication
- Berkeley : University of California Press, c2013.
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| Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person. | Text | Use in library | JFD 14-1728 | Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315 |
Details
- Description
- xii, 146 p.; 21 cm
- Subjects
- Note
- This edition updates benchmarks, includes a new chapter on rhetoric, updated a few examples, and thoroughly updated the bibliography.
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-144) and index.
- Contents
- Getting started -- Spotting questionable numbers -- Background. Statistical benchmarks. Severity and frequency -- Varieties of dubious data -- Blunders. The slippery decimal point. Botched translations. Misleading graphs. Careless calculations -- Sources: who counted--and why? Big round numbers. Hyperbole. Shocking claims. Naming the problem -- Definitions: what did they count? Broad definitions. Expanding definitions. Changing definitions. The uncounted -- Measurements: how did they count? Creating measures. Odd units of analysis. Loaded questions. Raising the bar. Technical measures -- Packaging: what are they telling us? Impressive formats. Misleading samples. Convenient time frames. Peculiar percentages, Selective comparisons. Statistical milestones. Averages. Epidemics. Correlations. Discoveries -- Rhetoric: what do they want us to think? Using short-term turnover to measure long-term problems. Sudden turns for the worse. Designating myths. Rhetorical flourishes -- Debates: what if they disagree? Causality debates. Equality debates. Policy debates -- Stat-spotting on your own. Summary: common signs of dubious data. Better data: some characteristics. Afterword: if you had no idea things were that bad, they probably aren't. Suggestions for those who want to continue stat-spotting
- Call Number
- JFD 14-1728
- ISBN
- 0520279980
- 9780520279988
- OCLC
- 840582121
- Author
- Best, Joel.
- Title
- Stat-spotting : a field guide to identifying dubious data / Joel Best.
- Imprint
- Berkeley : University of California Press, c2013.
- Edition
- Updated and expanded.
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-144) and index.
- Research Call Number
- JFD 14-1728