The Resource Trust in numbers: the pursuit of objectivity in science and public life
Trust in numbers: the pursuit of objectivity in science and public life
Resource Information
The item Trust in numbers: the pursuit of objectivity in science and public life represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in University of Liverpool.This item is available to borrow from 1 library branch.
Resource Information
The item Trust in numbers: the pursuit of objectivity in science and public life represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in University of Liverpool.
This item is available to borrow from 1 library branch.
- Summary
- This investigation of the overwhelming appeal of quantification in the modern world discusses the development of cultural meanings of objectivity over two centuries. How are we to account for the current prestige and power of quantitative methods? The usual answer is that quantification is seen as desirable in social and economic investigation as a result of its successes in the study of nature. Theodore Porter is not content with this. Why should the kind of success achieved in the study of stars, molecules, or cells be an attractive model for research on human societies? he asks. And, indeed, how should we understand the pervasiveness of quantification in the sciences of nature? In his view, we should look in the reverse direction: comprehending the attractions of quantification in business, government, and social research will teach us something new about its role in psychology, physics, and medicine
- Language
- eng
- Extent
- xiv, 310 pages
- Contents
-
- Introduction: Cultures of objectivity
- Power in numbers: A world of artifice ; How social numbers are made valid ; Economic measurement and the values of science ; The political philosophy of quantification
- Technologies of trust: Experts against objectivity : accountants and actuaries ; French State engineers and the ambiguities of technocracy ; U.S. Army Engineers and the rise of cost-benefit analysis
- Political and scientific communities: Objectivity and the politics of disciplines ; Is science made by communities?
- Isbn
- 9780691037769
- Label
- Trust in numbers: the pursuit of objectivity in science and public life
- Title
- Trust in numbers: the pursuit of objectivity in science and public life
- Language
- eng
- Summary
- This investigation of the overwhelming appeal of quantification in the modern world discusses the development of cultural meanings of objectivity over two centuries. How are we to account for the current prestige and power of quantitative methods? The usual answer is that quantification is seen as desirable in social and economic investigation as a result of its successes in the study of nature. Theodore Porter is not content with this. Why should the kind of success achieved in the study of stars, molecules, or cells be an attractive model for research on human societies? he asks. And, indeed, how should we understand the pervasiveness of quantification in the sciences of nature? In his view, we should look in the reverse direction: comprehending the attractions of quantification in business, government, and social research will teach us something new about its role in psychology, physics, and medicine
- Cataloging source
- UkLiU
- http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
- 1953-
- http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
- Porter, Theodore M.
- Index
- no index present
- Literary form
- non fiction
- http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
-
- Science
- Objectivity
- Label
- Trust in numbers: the pursuit of objectivity in science and public life
- Bibliography note
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-301) and index
- Carrier category
- volume
- Carrier category code
-
- nc
- Carrier MARC source
- rdacarrier
- Content category
- text
- Content type code
-
- txt
- Content type MARC source
- rdacontent
- Contents
- Introduction: Cultures of objectivity -- Power in numbers: A world of artifice ; How social numbers are made valid ; Economic measurement and the values of science ; The political philosophy of quantification -- Technologies of trust: Experts against objectivity : accountants and actuaries ; French State engineers and the ambiguities of technocracy ; U.S. Army Engineers and the rise of cost-benefit analysis -- Political and scientific communities: Objectivity and the politics of disciplines ; Is science made by communities?
- Dimensions
- 25 cm
- Extent
- xiv, 310 pages
- Isbn
- 9780691037769
- Media category
- unmediated
- Media MARC source
- rdamedia
- Media type code
-
- n
- Label
- Trust in numbers: the pursuit of objectivity in science and public life
- Bibliography note
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-301) and index
- Carrier category
- volume
- Carrier category code
-
- nc
- Carrier MARC source
- rdacarrier
- Content category
- text
- Content type code
-
- txt
- Content type MARC source
- rdacontent
- Contents
- Introduction: Cultures of objectivity -- Power in numbers: A world of artifice ; How social numbers are made valid ; Economic measurement and the values of science ; The political philosophy of quantification -- Technologies of trust: Experts against objectivity : accountants and actuaries ; French State engineers and the ambiguities of technocracy ; U.S. Army Engineers and the rise of cost-benefit analysis -- Political and scientific communities: Objectivity and the politics of disciplines ; Is science made by communities?
- Dimensions
- 25 cm
- Extent
- xiv, 310 pages
- Isbn
- 9780691037769
- Media category
- unmediated
- Media MARC source
- rdamedia
- Media type code
-
- n
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<div class="citation" vocab="http://schema.org/"><i class="fa fa-external-link-square fa-fw"></i> Data from <span resource="http://link.liverpool.ac.uk/portal/Trust-in-numbers-the-pursuit-of-objectivity-in/MBIayiW3888/" typeof="Book http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/Item"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a href="http://link.liverpool.ac.uk/portal/Trust-in-numbers-the-pursuit-of-objectivity-in/MBIayiW3888/">Trust in numbers: the pursuit of objectivity in science and public life</a></span> - <span property="potentialAction" typeOf="OrganizeAction"><span property="agent" typeof="LibrarySystem http://library.link/vocab/LibrarySystem" resource="http://link.liverpool.ac.uk/"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a property="url" href="http://link.liverpool.ac.uk/">University of Liverpool</a></span></span></span></span></div>
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<div class="citation" vocab="http://schema.org/"><i class="fa fa-external-link-square fa-fw"></i> Data from <span resource="http://link.liverpool.ac.uk/portal/Trust-in-numbers-the-pursuit-of-objectivity-in/MBIayiW3888/" typeof="Book http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/Item"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a href="http://link.liverpool.ac.uk/portal/Trust-in-numbers-the-pursuit-of-objectivity-in/MBIayiW3888/">Trust in numbers: the pursuit of objectivity in science and public life</a></span> - <span property="potentialAction" typeOf="OrganizeAction"><span property="agent" typeof="LibrarySystem http://library.link/vocab/LibrarySystem" resource="http://link.liverpool.ac.uk/"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a property="url" href="http://link.liverpool.ac.uk/">University of Liverpool</a></span></span></span></span></div>
