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I shall post videos, graphs, news stories, and other material. We shall use some of this material in class, and you may review the rest at your convenience. I encourage you to use the blog in these ways:

--To post questions or comments about the readings before we discuss them in class;
--To follow up on class discussions with additional comments or questions.
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Thursday, September 30, 2021

DATA!

For next time: Stone, ch. 10, 11, 12.

Manipulation and Misunderstanding
Mythical numbers:


When you count something, you find more of it. Stone, p. 198:

The establishment of new record keeping always brings out cases, as if counting exerts some kind of magnetic force on the things being counted. Sometimes this happens because a formal count normalizes a problem thought to be rare, and so can legitimize something people were previously afraid or ashamed to discuss. This phenomenon is thought to explain one reason why reports of rape to police escalated in the 1970s. Once the women's movement made rape a public issue, rape victims were  more likely to report their experiences to the police instead of remaining silent. Moreover, counting enables victims of a stigmatized condition to come forward as group members rather than as lone individuals. Record keeping also provides a channel for reporting. Once an agency publicizes that it is keeping a count, people turn to that agency to report instances.


Hate crimes 

Counting LGTBQ+ and Household Pulse Survey

 

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act


Children 3 to 21 years old served under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B, by type of disability, autism.

A puzzle whose answer I do not know:

1.  Assume an autism prevalence of one in 150 -- a very conservative estimate

2.  Find data on mental hospitals and institutions for the "retarded" here:  United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1975), 84-85. Online: https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/1975/compendia/hist_stats_colonial-1970/hist_stats_colonial-1970p1-chB.pdf


3.  Compare the estimated number of people with autism and total population of mental hospitals and institutions for the "retarded."


            Total Population           Population/150                Total in Institutions
1940    132,164,569                  881,097                     578,222
1950    151,325,798                1,008,839                    705,375
1960    179,323,175                1,195,488                    769,682
1970    203,302,031               1,355,347                    580,956


Assembling evidence

Demographics

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