Set in post-Civil War St. Paul, Minnesota, the narrative explores the informal regulation of brothel prostitution by the police. For eighteen years, madams faced monthly charges for operating brothels, effectively paying fines as licensing fees for their illegal activities. This unique arrangement was widely known, with local newspapers extensively covering the vice and its regulation, highlighting the complex interplay between law enforcement and illicit businesses in the city.
Across disciplines, critical thinking is praised, taught, and put into practice. But what does it actually mean to think critically? In this brief volume, sociologist Joel Best examines how to evaluate arguments and the evidence used to support them as he hones in on how to think in the field of sociology and beyond. With inimitable style that melds ethnographic verve with dry humor, Best examines the ways in which sociologists engage in fuzzy thinking through bias, faddish cultural waves, spurious reasoning, and implicit bias. The short chapters Students across disciplines will learn the building blocks of critical thinking in a sociological context and come away with key concepts to put into practice.
Popular hazards or, how we insist similar social problems are different -- American nightmares or, why sociologists hate the American dream / written with David Schweingruber -- Evaluating predictions or, how to compare the Maya calendar, Social Security, and climate change -- Future talk or, how slippery slopes shape concern -- Memories as problems or, how to reconsider Confederate flags and other symbols of the past /written with Lawrence T. Nichols -- Economicization or, why economists get more respect than sociologists -- Afterword : the future of American nightmares
Does a young person commit suicide every thirteen minutes in the United States? Are four million women really battered to death by their husbands or boyfriends each year? Is methamphetamine our number one drug problem today? This title deals with these questions.
Here, by popular demand, is the updated edition to Joel Best's classic guide to understanding how numbers can confuse us. In his new afterword, Best uses examples from recent policy debates to reflect on the challenges to improving statistical literacy. Since its publication ten years ago, Damned Lies and Statistics has emerged as the go-to handbook for spotting bad statistics and learning to think critically about these influential numbers.
Demystifies statistical measures by explaining in straightforward prose how decisions are made about what to count and what not to count, what assumptions get made, and which figures are brought to our attention. This book identifies different sorts of numbers that shape how we think about public issues.