Bad data: how governments, politicians and the rest of us get misled by numbers

By:

Sturge, Georgina

Material type: Text

TextPublication details: The Bridge Street Press London 2022Description: 274 pISBN:

9780349128627

Subject(s):

DDC classification:

324.6015195 STU

Summary: ‘Essential reading … An incisive and urgently needed book’ Tim Harford ‘[An] entertaining introduction to the uses (and misuses) of data … a penetrating analysis of why statistical literacy matters to our politics and our daily lives’ Professor Jonathan Portes Our politicians make vital decisions and declarations every day that rely on official data. But should all statistics be trusted? In BAD DATA, House of Commons Library statistician Georgina Sturge draws back the curtain on how governments of the past and present have been led astray by figures littered with inconsistency, guesswork and uncertainty. Discover how a Hungarian businessman’s bright idea caused half a million people to go missing from UK migration statistics. Find out why it’s possible for two politicians to disagree over whether poverty has gone up or down, using the same official numbers, and for both to be right at the same time. And hear about how policies like ID cards, super-casinos and stopping ex-convicts from reoffending failed to live up to their promise because they were based on shaky data. With stories that range from the troubling to the empowering to the downright absurd, BAD DATA reveals secrets from the usually closed-off world of policy-making. It also suggests how – once we understand the human story behind the numbers – we can make more informed choices about who to trust, and when. (https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/titles/georgina-sturge/bad-data/9780349128634/)

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Holdings
Item type	Current library	Collection	Call number	Copy number	Status	Date due	Barcode
Book	Indian Institute of Management LRC General Stacks	Operations Management & Quantitative Techniques	324.6015195 STU (Browse shelf(Opens below))	1	Available		005846

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Previous	303.4834 SRI Data-centric living: algorithms, digitization and regulation	311.23 HAM Statistical analysis for decision making	320.02855133 URD R for political data science:	324.6015195 STU Bad data: how governments, politicians and the rest of us get misled by numbers	330.015193 CAM Behavioral game theory: experiments in strategic interaction	330.015195 HON Probability and statistics for economists	330.019 THA Nudge: improving decisions about health, wealth and happiness	Next

‘Essential reading … An incisive and urgently needed book’ Tim Harford

‘[An] entertaining introduction to the uses (and misuses) of data … a penetrating analysis of why statistical literacy matters to our politics and our daily lives’ Professor Jonathan Portes

Our politicians make vital decisions and declarations every day that rely on official data. But should all statistics be trusted?

In BAD DATA, House of Commons Library statistician Georgina Sturge draws back the curtain on how governments of the past and present have been led astray by figures littered with inconsistency, guesswork and uncertainty.

Discover how a Hungarian businessman’s bright idea caused half a million people to go missing from UK migration statistics. Find out why it’s possible for two politicians to disagree over whether poverty has gone up or down, using the same official numbers, and for both to be right at the same time. And hear about how policies like ID cards, super-casinos and stopping ex-convicts from reoffending failed to live up to their promise because they were based on shaky data.

With stories that range from the troubling to the empowering to the downright absurd, BAD DATA reveals secrets from the usually closed-off world of policy-making. It also suggests how – once we understand the human story behind the numbers – we can make more informed choices about who to trust, and when.

(https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/titles/georgina-sturge/bad-data/9780349128634/)

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