Then what about the whole field of Sovert (s)(S)tatistics - by far the
largest employer in their economy (outstripping even the Red Army) which
meant 'simply'  the compilation of data (obviously open to all the usual
distortions of governement statistics.

[log in to unmask] wrote:
> 
> I thought that the usual approach was to use Statistics with a capital S for the
> field of study and statistics with a small s for things calculated from data.
> 
> Martin
> 
> Quoting [log in to unmask]:
> 
> > I agree with Dietrich.   One reason for my agreement is that the use of the
> > word statists as a singular noun (meaning statistical method) does not
> > correspond with the everyday meaning of the word.
> >
> > In everyday use statistics is a plural noun, and it means the figures that
> > millions of people read about or work with.  They would not recognise the
> > term 'data' as applying to, say, the latest increase reported in the RPI,
> > or
> > in the level of unemployment, or in checking their earnings, or monitoring
> > the activities of their employer in terms of sales, output, etc.
> >
> > But this reason is symptomatic of a rather more fundamental problem.
> > Statisticians in using statistics to mean statistical method tend to be
> > blind to the fact that statistics, e.g. official statistics, have qualities
> > other than numerical values.  Many, if not most statisticians are rather
> > like 'cheerful robots' (to use Wright Mills' classic phrase) in their
> > handling of statistics.  They are uncritical of the origins and purposes of
> > the statistics they use or help produce.  They expect to be able to learn
> > something just by manipulating the numerical values given.
> >
> > The restriction of the meaning of statistics to statistical method has also
> > been fairly disastrous for the development of the social sciences in
> > Britain
> > in recent decades.  At present we have a government that has declared that
> > it expects to be assessed on the basis of statistics relating to its
> > performance.   That is a historically unprecedented declaration.   But
> > there
> > has been little reaction from academic social scientists - except for a few
> > who have jumped on to the quantification bandwagon.
> >
> > Ray Thomas, Social Sciences, Open University
> > Tel: 01908 679081 Fax 01908 550401
> > Email: [log in to unmask]
> > 35 Passmore, Milton Keynes MK6 3DY
> >
> >
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Dietrich Alte [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> > > Sent: 04 January 2000 11:59
> > > Cc: [log in to unmask]
> > > Subject: statistics and data
> > >
> > >
> > > julian.p.wells wrote
> > >
> > > >                 Incidentally, it has often struck me that, given the
> > > > contents of the journal, Radical Statistics is something of
> > > a misnomer:
> > > > "Radical Data" would capture its nature more accurately.
> > > >
> > >
> > > the word "statistics" has surely more than one meaning. one of it -
> > > and probably older than most others - is one that comes from the latin
> > > "status" = state (political unit, conditional, physical etc.) and has
> > > got something from "description of the state of the state" in it -
> > > which is usually done with data on social, economic, political etc.
> > > constructs.
> > > as i understood radstats, it is _this_ meaning of data (and
> > > despriptive+inferential statistics) that the "stats" in the list
> > > focusses on.
> > >
> > > -------------------------------------------------------------
> > >   Dietrich Alte, Diplom-Statistiker
> > >
> > >   Universitaet Greifswald
> > >   Institut fuer Epidemiologie und Sozialmedizin
> > >   Organisationszentrum Community Medicine
> > >   Walther-Rathenau-Str. 48, D-17487 Greifswald, Germany
> > >   phone +49 (0) 3834 - 86 77 13, fax +49 (0) 3834 - 86 66 84
> > >   email [log in to unmask]
> > > -------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> >
> 
> Prof J M Bland
> Dept of Public Health Sciences
> St George's Hospital Medical School
> London SW17 0RE, UK
> 
> Tel 0181-725 5492
> email [log in to unmask]
> 
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
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