The Bureau of Labor Statistics' early work included studies of depressions, tariffs, immigrants, and alcoholism and many assignments to investigate and mediate disputes between labor and management. The Bureau of Labor in the Department of the Interior was created on June 26, 1884 as the culmination of almost two dec ades of advocacy by labor organizations that wanted government help in publicizing and improving the status of the growing industrial labor force.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' early work included studies of depressions, tariffs, immigrants, and alcoholism and many assignments to investigate and mediate disputes between labor and management. The Bureau of Labor in the Department of the Interior was created on June 26, 1884 as the culmination of almost two dec ades of advocacy by labor organizations that wanted government help in publicizing and improving the status of the growing industrial labor force.
Once viewed as a distinct era characterized by intense bigotry, nostalgia for simpler times and a revulsion against active government, the 1920s have been rediscovered by historians in recent decades as a time when Herbert Hoover and his allies worked to significantly reform economic policy. Mark Hendrickson both augments and amends this view by studying the origins and development of New Era policy expertise and knowledge. Policy-oriented social scientists in government, trade union, academic and nonprofit agencies showed how methods for achieving stable economic growth through increased productivity could both defang the dreaded business cycle and defuse the pattern of hostile class relations that Gilded Age depressions had helped to set as an American system of industrial relations.
Erroneous government-generated "data" is more problematic than it would appear. This book demonstrates how women's history has consistently been hidden and distorted by 200 years of official government statistics. Much of women's history has been hidden and filtered through unrealistic expectations and assumptions. Because U.S. government data about women's lives and occupations has been significantly inaccurate, these misrepresentations in statistical information have shaped the reality of women's lives. They also affect men and society as a whole: these numbers influence our investments, our property values, our representation in Congress, and even how we see our place in society. This book documents how U.S. federal government statistics have served to reveal and conceal facts about women in the United States. It reaches back to the late 1800s, when the U.S. Census Bureau first listed women's occupations, and forward to the present, when the U.S. government relies on nonprofit groups for statistics on abortion. Objective and accurate, When Women Didn't Count isn't focused on numbers and census results as much as on recognizing problems in data, exposing the hidden facets of government data, and using critical thinking when considering all seemingly authoritative sources. Readers will contemplate how the government decided that a "farmer's wife" could be a farmer, how the ongoing battle over abortion has been reflected in the numbers the government is allowed to keep and publish, the consequences of the Census Bureau "correcting" reports of women in unusual occupations in 1920, and why the official count of women-owned businesses dropped 20 percent in 1997.
Through use of practical examples and a plainspoken narrative style that minimises the use of maths, this book demystifies data concepts, sources, and methods for public service professionals interested in understanding economic and social issues at the regional level. By blending elements of a general interest book, a textbook, and a reference book, it equips civic leaders, public administrators, urban planners, nonprofit executives, philanthropists, journalists, and graduate students in various public affairs disciplines to wield social and economic data for the benefit of their communities. While numerous books about quantitative research exist, few focus specifically on the public sector. Running the Numbers, in contrast, explores a wide array of topics of regional importance, including economic output, demographics, business structure, labour markets, and income, among many others. To that end, the book stresses practical applications, minimises the use of maths, and employs extended, chapter-length examples that demonstrate how analytical tools can illuminate the social and economic workings of actual American regions.
Now updated for web-based research, the third edition of The Data Game introduces students to the collection, use, and interpretation of statistical data in the social sciences. Separate chapters are devoted to data in the fields of demography, housing, health, education, crime, the national economy, wealth, income and poverty, labor, business, government, and public opinion polling. The concluding chapter is devoted to the common problem of ambiguity in social science statistics.
