The Politics of Numbers

This series is aimed at converting the vast statistical yield of the 1980 census into independent, authoritative analyses of major changes and trends in American life. The politics of numbers resembles the other volumes in that its point of departure is the US census, however, it differs from them by going far beyond census data to an examination of the compilation and analysis of other offical data as well. It is the only volume in this series devoted to the governmental data system itself, rather than to the information contained in that data. It is the first major study of the social and political forces behind America’s offical statistics. In fourteen essays its editors and authors look at the controversies and choices embedded in key decisions about how the American political establishment counts - in measuring the economy, comparing Soviet and American military budgets or enumerating ethnic groups. It has become just as important to study the intricate political processes involved in defining collecting, analysing and managing official statistics as it is to examine the statistics themselves.