Politicians Manipulating Statistics
How They Do It and How to Oppose Them
Author: Michael Billig and Cristina Marinho
Discover how politicians across the world misuse statistics and manipulate statisticians, and what can be done to stop them.
Explore Billig and Marinho's highly original study of politicians misusing statistics, misleading the public and manipulating statisticians. This book also highlights how the British and French statistical agencies aim to combat this increasingly serious problem. Tailored for all audiences, it is a clearly written, insightful, and witty work.
Hardcover
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Summary
Discover how politicians across the world misuse statistics and manipulate statisticians, and what can be done to stop them.
Explore Billig and Marinho's highly original study of politicians misusing statistics, misleading the public and manipulating statisticians. This book also highlights how the British and French statistical agencies aim to combat this increasingly serious problem. Tailored for all audiences, it is a clearly written, insightful, and witty work.
Description
Highly original and insightful, Billig and Marinho's book investigates how politicians misuse official statistics. Setting this problem in its historical context – and offering vivid case studies of Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and Gérald Darmanin – the authors demonstrate that the manipulation of statistics involves the misuse of words as well as the misuse of numbers. Most importantly, the authors show that politicians will manipulate official statisticians to produce politically convenient, but statistically inappropriate, numbers. Another unique part of the book is that the authors are not content with analysing how statistics are manipulated, but they also rigorously analyse the efforts of statistical agencies in France and Britain to combat such manipulation. The chapters herald unsung heroes who operate largely 'behind the scenes' to expose and oppose the corruption of statistics. An indispensable read for anyone concerned with the intersection of power and data.
About the Author
Michael Billig is Emeritus Professor at Loughborough University. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and received the British Psychological Society's 2023 award for Lifetime Achievement. Cristina Marinho is a Lecturer in the Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh. Together with Michael Billig, she is the author of The Politics and Rhetoric of Commemoration (2017).
Product Details
Returns
This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.
