Ethnostatistics: Qualitative Foundations for Quantitative Research [Paperback]

This volume discusses ethnostatistics - the interpretative study of the construction and use of statistics in social research - and will be of equal interest to qualitative and quantitative researchers across the social sciences. On the understanding that the development of a statistic is inherently a qualitative act, the author shows how this act can be studied and analyzed. The interpretative factors in statistical work can be demonstrated at a variety of levels; Gephart shows how each can be usefully illuminated through the use of ethnostatistics to produce more effective, reflexive social research.This volume discusses ethnostatistics - the interpretative study of the construction and use of statistics in social research - and will be of equal interest to qualitative and quantitative researchers across the social sciences. On the understanding that the development of a statistic is inherently a qualitative act, the author shows how this act can be studied and analyzed. The interpretative factors in statistical work can be demonstrated at a variety of levels; Gephart shows how each can be usefully illuminated through the use of ethnostatistics to produce more effective, reflexive social research.The Domain of Ethnostatics
Producing a Statistic
Statistics at Work
Statistics as Rhetoric
Summary and Conclusions