Point taken ... and one of the people who prob. worked on Health Group pamphlets with Alison and others, Iain Chalmers, was interviewed on last Tuesday's "The Life Scientific", available on iplayer:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01cjwtd/The_Life_Scientific_Iain_Chalmers/
Jeff
-----Original Message-----
From: email list for Radical Statistics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Macfarlane, Alison
Sent: 04 March 2012 22:51
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Official Statistics: a very short introduction
The same applies to the various versions of the unofficial guide to official health statistics, produced by Radical Statistics.
Alison
________________________________________
From: Ruth Levitas [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 04 March 2012 22:07
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Official Statistics: a very short introduction
small disciplinary plug - actually we were mostly in Bristol's Sociology
Department at the time. I don't recall any resources apart from Will and I
sitting up all night.
Ruth
On Sun, March 4, 2012 8:03 pm, Jeff Evans wrote:
> I think there may be several ways of responding to the needs indicated by
> Tom. A type of general short book, such as he describes, has been produced
> periodically - I recall M. Slattery (1986), Official Statistics,
> Tavistock, which may also have been part of a series.
>
> The problem, I think, is in keeping the book short and general - but also
> interesting. In this area, there are a limited set of things you can say
> in general about official statistics, but it is challenging to show how
> they matter - in a short space, and without going into examples, of one or
> more series where you have, in each case, to go into the definitions of
> variable and the current policy needs they are meant to address. The
> specific cases, crime or inflation etc., become interesting, but take
> space to develop properly.
>
> So one might consider a larger book, edited with many contributors, like
> Statistics in Society (1998) or Demystifying (1979), or Interpreting
> Official Statistics, eds. Levitas & Guy (1996). But you need an
> organisation like Radical Statistics, or the Univ. of Bristol Social
> Policy [?] Dept. to have the resources to do that.
>
> So there may be a place for the smaller book. It might be worth scanning
> the excellent book, The Tiger That Isn't, by M. Blastland & A. Dilnot
> (2007/2008), to consider what they have "left out". The BBC series "More
> or Less", on which the book was based, has of course produced more
> programmes since.
>
> Finally, anything that might raise the visibility of official statistics
> in discussions of curriculum, at any level, is to be welcomed. The RSS,
> with the Society of Actuaries, published a report on school and college
> level, in January, by Roger Porkess, which is generally helpful, but the
> issues around a need for the critical examination of statistical data,
> particualrly official data, are not emphasised.
>
> Regards,
> Jeff Evans
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: email list for Radical Statistics [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of King T.
> Sent: 29 February 2012 09:17
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Official Statistics: a very short introduction
>
> I have recently been reviewing the Very Short Introduction to Statistics
> and I noticed that it says very little about official statistics. The VSI
> series covers all manner of weird and wonderful topics but nothing that
> really covers anything like official statistics. Something that gave the
> history and also covered reasons for collecting data and governance etc
> would be interesting. It could also explain ideas like seasonal adjustment
> and different measures of certain things like unemployment. It could also
> give considerable insight into the role a census plays in the statistical
> system. Then it might move on to more complex issues such as performance
> indicators. I think there would be a book in it, the only difficulty is
> how to look at the international perspective including the role of
> international organisations. Do you think it is possible to suggest such a
> commission to OUP, or is it something radstats might consider doing?
> Tom
>
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