Disciplining Statistics : Demography and Vital Statistics in France and England, 1830-1885 PDF
by Schweber Libby Schweber
Part of the Politics, History, and Culture series
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Tracing the introduction and promotion of vital statistics and demography, Schweber identifies the institutional conditions that account for the contrasting styles of reasoning. She shows that the different reactions to statistics stemmed from different criteria for what counted as scientific knowledge. The French wanted certain knowledge, a one-to-one correspondence between observations and numbers. The English adopted an instrumental approach, using the numbers to influence public opinion and evaluate and justify legislation.
Schweber recounts numerous attempts by vital statisticians and demographers to have their work recognized as legitimate scientific pursuits. While the British scientists had greater access to government policy makers, and were able to influence policy in a way that their French counterparts were not, ultimately neither the vital statisticians nor the demographers were able to institutionalize their endeavors. By 1885, both fields had been superseded by new forms of knowledge. Disciplining Statistics highlights how the development of "scientific" knowledge was shaped by interrelated epistemological, political, and institutional considerations.
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- Format:PDF
- Pages:288 pages
- Publisher:Duke University Press
- Publication Date:28/11/2006
- Category:
- ISBN:9780822388524
Information
-
Download Now
- Format:PDF
- Pages:288 pages
- Publisher:Duke University Press
- Publication Date:28/11/2006
- Category:
- ISBN:9780822388524