Statistics and Public Policy [Hardcover]

Statistics--data, methods, and thinking--play important and fascinating roles in public issues. Yet, these roles are sometimes unknown to statistics students and even to professional statisticians. This book indicates some connections between statistics and public issues such as government policy- or decision-making, public administration, law, and public debate. It describes examples of statistics in public policy areas as disparate as national defense, AIDS diffusion, DNA fingerprinting, human rights violations and scientific manpower among other areas. Although a small amount of statistical training is assumed, the emphasis is on ideas rather than technical detail or mathematical generality. This approach makes it equally accessible to statisticians and social scientists and also makes it an ideal resource for teachers of first-year statistics.

Introduction
Part I: Uses of Statistics for Description
1. Issues in DNA Fingerprinting,Herman Chernoff
2. The Emerging Field of Human Rights Statistics,Thomas B. Jabine
3. Making Defense Decisions: What Role Might a Statistical Perspective Play?,David S.C. Chu and Nancy L. Spruill
4. Ethics, Objectivity, and Politics: Statistics in a Public Policy Perspective,Stephen E. Fienberg
5. Normative Terminology: Normal in Statistics and Elsewhere,William H. Kruskjal and Stephen M. Stigler
Part II Data Collection
6. Statistics In Washington, 1935-1945,W. Allen Wallis
7. Periodic and Rolling Samples and Censuses,Leslie Kish
8. Numbering the People: Issues of Accuracy, Privacy and Open Government,Philip Redfern
9. Surveying Individuals with Disabilities,Allan R. Sampson
10. Constructed Social Networks in the Study of Diffusion,James S. Coleman
Part III Uses of Statistics for Policy Analysis
11. Why Forecasts Fail and Policies Are Often FrustratlS'