Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
-
Upload
contehomer -
Category
Documents
-
view
217 -
download
0
Transcript of Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
1/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 112
KnowledgeandParticipation:whichDemocracy?PaoloParraSaiani
AbstractAnew impetus for recollecting information seems regaining appeal,maybeheirof thesocial indicators movement. The movement was an heir to the supporters ofquantification in the Social Sciences, as numbers were believed to be objective andscientificperseandinformationwasconsideredtobeacitizensright.The study of society in its various dimensions has stimulated the search for andconstructionofstatistical indicatorsand indices.Thesearchforabetterwayofstudyingtheprogressofsocietieshasoften ledto inappropriateusesof indicatorsandmeasures.GNP, forexample,hasbeencommonlyconsidered tobean indicatorofwellbeing.The
lackof
aconceptual
frame
for
studying
well
being
is
not
the
only
problem,
nor
even
the
greatest.Of similar importance or even greater are themeager statistical skills ofjournalists, policymakers and in general the public. All together, these elementsfacilitatelimitingtheuseofdatainpublicdebate.Inthispaper, Iwillconsider theshiftfrompoliticalarithmeticktomodernsocialreports(par. 1); the success of quantification in the administration of the State (par. 2); themisusesofquantification(par.3);thecurrentnonuseofquantificationandthesearchforcontextual conditions that interfere with the transformation of information intoknowledge(par.4).
Keywords: SOCIAL INDICATORS POLICY DEMOCRACY QUANTIFICATION WELLBEING KNOWLEDGE
DepartmentofPoliticalSciences,UniversityofGenoa,Italy,
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
2/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 113
Conocimientoyparticipacin:qudemocracia?PaoloParraSaiani
Resumen
Unnuevompetuporlarecoleccindeinformacinpareceestarganandoterreno,talvezherederodelmovimientodelosindicadoressociales.EstemovimientofueunlegadodequienesapoyabanlacuantificacinenlasCienciasSociales,enlamedidaquelosnmerosse crean objetivos y cientficos per se y la informacin se consideraba un derechociudadano.El estudio de la sociedad en susmltiples dimensiones ha estimulado la bsqueda yconstruccindeindicadoresendicesestadsticos.Sinembargo,elintersporcontarconmejores formas de estudiar el progreso social ha conducido,muchas veces, a un usoinadecuado de indicadores y medidas. El PBI, por ejemplo, ha sido frecuentemente
tomadocomo
un
indicador
de
bienestar.
Pero
la
carencia
de
un
marco
conceptual
para
el
estudio del bienestar no es el nico problema, ni siquiera el ms importante. Unasignificacin similar o aun mayor la tiene la escasa competencia estadstica deperiodistas, hacedoresde polticas pblicas yen general la ciudadana. En conjunto,estoselementoscoadyuvanalimitarelusodelosdatoseneldebatepblico.Enesteartculoabordoelcambiodesdelaaritmticapolticahacialosmodernosreportessociales(par.1);elxitode lacuantificacinen laadministracindelEstado(par.2); losusosinadecuadosdelacuantificacin(par.3);laactualnoutilizacindelacuantificacinyla bsqueda de condiciones contextuales que interfieren en la transformacin de lainformacinenconocimiento(par.4).
Palabrasclave: INDICADORES SOCIALES POLITICA DEMOCRACIA CUANTIFICACION BIENESTAR CONOCIMIENTO.
DepartmentofPoliticalSciences,UniversityofGenoa,Italy,
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
3/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 114
KnowledgeandParticipation:whichDemocracy?Introduction
Democracy,information,
knowledge,
numbers,
numeracy.
In
this
paper
Iwill
show
the connections (or their lack) between them and trace the road from politicalarithmetictomodernsocialreports,illustratingthefactorsthatcontributedtointroducequantification in thepublicdiscourse.However,aswillbeshown in the lastsection,themerepossibilitytoknowthestateofthenationisnotthesameastousethatknowledge.
1. ThehiddeninformationTheactivityofgatheringinformationonsocialsubjectshasanoldstory.Inventories
withfiscal
and
administrative
purposes
were
acommon
practice
in
the
ancient
Egypt
as
in
theRomanEmpire. In1086appears inEnglandpromotedbyWilliam theConquerorthe Domesday Book, very similar to a modern census. In 1288 Bonvesin da la Rivapublished a work dedicated to the city ofMilan, giving a detailed description of thetopography,demography,andarchitectureofMilananditsenvirons:averydifferentandinnovativeapproachfromtheusualoneofthatperiod.AnotherexampleisgivenbyJohnGraunt,whoin1622publishedNaturalandPoliticalObservationsMadeupontheLondonBills of Mortality1: one of the pioneering works in the history of statistics anddemography, Graunts book laid the foundation for a quantitative study of society,providingnumbers for the totalpopulationof London, themortality rates fordifferentdiseases (including plague), the ratio between the sexes, and measures of longevity
(Rusnock2005:
66
67).
In
1696
Gregory
King
published
the
Scheme
of
the
Income
and
ExpenseoftheSeveralFamiliesofEnglandCalculatedfortheYear1688,inLaslettswordstheearliestreckoningofagrossnationalproduct, the firstattemptatdistributing that
1SeeHull(1896;1899),Cullen(1975)andPiovani(2006,17),forthedebateontheauthorshipoftheLondonBills.
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
4/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 115
productbetween classes,householdsand individuals, in fact thepointoforiginationoftheveryconceptofanationalincome,evenofthewholetendencytolookatsocietiesintheir entirety, taking every single member into account (1973: 3). Nevertheless,sovereignsdidnothavethepossibilitytorelyonreliable information:dependingonthesources,FrenchpopulationinXIVandXVcenturywasestimatedbetween112millionand120billionpeople.AsstatedbyReyni,leroiquisesaitroinesaitpasdequiilestroi2(1992,43).
The development of communication and transport systems, the diffusion ofaccountingtechniquesandtheriseofmercantilecapitalism,allthesefactorsrequiredthesystematic recollection of information on population, disposable resources andcommercialflows(Lazarsfeld1961;Braudel1972:369;Pinkney1986:5051;Bruschi1999:234;Kiser&Kane2001:202;205).Butonly abureaucraticorganization inWeberiantermswouldhavepermittedthegatheringofsuchinformationinapermanentway.AsWeberpointedout,bureaucraticadministrationbuilthisrationaldominiononknowledge(1922a/1995,I,ch.3).FollowingWeber(1922/1995, II:48),Habermas(1962)consideredcalculability and impersonality in the administration of the State as consequences ofcapitalism needs. But the relation between power and knowledge has been deeply
analyzedby
the
Frankfurt
School
and
by
Michel
Foucault.
The
former
emphasized
that
largeaccumulationoffactsand linksbetweenthemwasasciencetask inordertoassistindustriesandgovernment(Horkheimer&Adorno1966:259;Horkheimer&Adorno1956:142). The latter saw the activity of production of information on life conditions intobiopolitics, an expression bywhich he defined the institutional basis of the Europeanpowersystem,borninthemidofXVIII.Inhiswritings,theconceptofpopulationassumesa focal position: power can be exercised on population, and not on subjects; for thatreason,populationneededtobestudiedinordertobeusedintheproductionofwealth,goodsorotherindividuals.
Ladcouvertede lapopulationest,enmme tempsque ladcouvertede lindividuetdu
corpsdressable,
lautre
grand
noyau
technologique
autour
duquel
les
procds
politiques
de
lOccident se sont transforms. On a invent ce momentl ce que jappellerai, paropposition lanatomopolitique quejaimentionn linstant, la biopolitique. Cest cemomentquenousvoyonsapparatredesproblmescommeceuxdelhabitat,desconditionsdeviedansuneville,de lhyginepublique,de lamodificationdu rapportentrenatalitet
2Amplius,seeHecth(1977,I:3435)andReyni(1992:45).
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
5/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 116
mortalit.Cest cemomentquestapparu leproblmede savoir commentnouspouvonsamenerlesgensfaireplusdenfants,ouentoutcascommentnouspouvonsrglerlefluxdela population, comment nous pouvons rgler galement le taux de croissance dunepopulation, lesmigrations. Et, partir de l, toute une srie de techniques dobservation,parmi lesquelles la statistique, videmment, mais aussi tous les grands organismesadministratifs,conomiquesetpolitiques,sontchargsdecettergulationdelapopulation.Ilyaeudeuxgrandesrvolutionsdanslatechnologiedupouvoir:ladcouvertedeladisciplineet la dcouverte de la rgulation, le perfectionnement dune anatomopolitique et le
perfectionnementdune
bio
politique
(Foucault,
200l:
l012
1013).
Finally, Foucault directly connected knowledge and power, going back toWilliamPetty:
Enprtantaumotunsensdiffrentdeceluique luidonnaientauXVIIesiclePettyetsescontemporains,onpourrait rverduneanatomiepolitique.Cene seraitpas ltudeduntatpriscommeuncorps(avecseslments,sesressourcesetsesforces)maisceneseraitpasnonplus ltudeducorpsetdesesentourspriscommeunpetittat.Onytraiteraitducorps politique comme ensemble des lmentsmatriels et des techniques qui serventdarmes,derelais,devoiesdecommunicationetdepointsdappuiauxrelationsdepouvoiretdesavoirqui investissent lescorpshumainset lesassujettissentenen faisantdesobjetsde
savoir(Foucault
1975:
33).
Foucaultsapproachwasthendrawnonbystressingthecoercivepowerofnumberson individualsinordertoconvertthem intoobjectsabletobemanipulated(Cohn1987:224; Anderson 1991: 163; Appadurai 1996). On the other hand, such a position wasofferedbyPettyhimself:
And finallywhenwee have a cleere view of all persons and things,with their powers&familyes,wee shallbee able toMethodize and regulate them to thebestadvantageof thepubliqandofperticularpersons(1661/1927,I,IV,25:90).
And
where
power
is
not
exercised
with
ostentation,
it
takes
action
insidiously,
as
censuscanbeaninstrumentofsocialcontrolandinstitutionalizationofdifferences.3
3Manyauthorsconsiderstatisticsasasocialconstruction(KitsuseandCicourel1963;Hacking1990;Rose1990;Poovey1998),bywhichitispossibletocreateanoppressivelanguage,institutionalizingnormalityandabnormality.Butthereisnounanimityinconsideringnormalizationandindividualcontrolasanexpectableresultofquantification.Onthecontrary,thesuccessofnumbersentailsfreedomfortheindividual:Sherman(2001)statethatquantificationhasgivebacktoindividualhisownresponsibility,showinghimashispoverty
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
6/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 117
The systematic activity of gathering informationmodified the same reality itwassupposedtostudy(Desrosires1989:232ff.).Ontheotherhand, itfavouredinnovativeapproaches on the theoryside, by modifying the unit of analysis. Studies by Booth,Rowntree,Bowleyetc.,allcontributetoovercometheideologicalviewofpovertyseenasabreach,apathology,tobeattributedonlytotheindividual.Thisiswelldemonstratedin1848, when an outbreak of cholera focused attention on Britains city slums; theEconomistopposedthepassageofaPublicHealthBilldeclaring:
Suffering and evil areNatures admonitions; they cannot be got rid of; and the impatientattemptsofbenevolence tobanish them from theworldby legislation,beforebenevolencehaslearnttheirobjectandtheirend,havealwaysbeenmoreproductiveofevilthangood(inAbrams1951:25).
Similarly, the diffusionof expressions like rateof criminality (around 1830) andunemploymentrate(intheearly1900s)underlinedthecollectiveresponsibilityattheexpenseoftheunluckyorreprehensible individualperson (Himmelfarb1991:41;Porter1995:37). In thesameway,suicide isnomoreattributed toeachsingle individual,andtheir regularities became properties related to society on the whole, as in the
Durkheimianproduction.
2. TheStateanditsmirrorThe expression Political Arithmetick, coined by William Petty, made explicit the
conjunction between two spheres until then thought as separated: on the one hand,reasonofState,theprivilegeofaristocraticelite;ontheotherhand,arithmetic,avulgardisciplinecauseher tieswith trade.Petty thought that theuseofnumberswouldallow
istheresultofaspectsthathemaycontrol.Porter(1995;2005)andHess(2000;2005)drawtheattentiontothe introduction of the thermometer in order to take directly our own temperature,without having tocontactan intermediary (thedoctorandhisopinion.Nodoubtthequantificationofbodytemperature isonly one example of a new social technology. But the standardizations that prepared the way forquantification in the hospital and in daily life did not simply serve to document,measure, control andregulate the individual. They also somehow allowed the individual to regulate and control this socialtechnology(Hess2005:122).
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
7/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 118
the impact of personal and subjective opinion in State strengths determination to beneutralized:
TheMethodItaketodothis,isnotyetveryusual;forinsteadofusingonlycomparativeandsuperlativeWords,and intellectualArguments,Ihavetakenthecourse(asaSpecimenofthePoliticalArithmetick Ihave longaimedat)toexpressmyself intermsofNumber,Weight,orMeasure; touseonlyArgumentsofSense,andtoconsideronlysuchCauses,ashavevisibleFoundations in Nature; leaving those that depend upon the mutable Minds, Opinions,
Appetitesand
Passions
of
particular
Men,
to
the
Consideration
of
others
(Petty
1690:
vi
vii;
italicintheoriginal).
Torgersonpointedthatthedreamofputtinganendtothestrifeandconfusionofhuman society in favor of an orderly administration of things based upon objectiveknowledgewasprevalentintheEnlightenmentofthe18thcenturyandwasreassertedwith the advent of positivism in the 19th century (1986: 34). And in particular,quantification of social phenomena should have guarantee an objective knowledge;statistics is then seenan indispensable science fora liberalstate.As stated in the1860statuteoftheStatisticalSocietyofParisstatisticsisnothingelsethantheknowledgeof
the
science
of
facts
[]
It
ought
to
provide
the
basis
upon
which
society
is
governed
(in
Porter1995:80).The search for objectivity was explicitly stated in the program of the Statistical
Society:
TheStatisticalSocietywillconsiderittobethefirstandmostessentialruleofitsconducttoexcludeallopinionsfrom itstransactionsandpublicationstoconfineitsattentionrigorouslyto factsandas farasmaybe foundpossible, to factswhichcanbe statednumericallyandarrangedintables(BritishAssociationfortheAdvancementofScience1833:492).
Thusobjectivitysupposed tobean intrinsicpropertyofnumberswouldhaveallowedpoliticstodecideinarationalwayoneconomicandsocialtopics;sorationalthat
iffacts
would
be
known,
disagreement
would
cease.
This
statement,
clearly
an
heritage
of the truegenuinepositivism,willbeaswewill see in the followingparagraphsapointofviewcommonalsowiththelatersocialindicatormovementoftheSixties.
It should be evident that all those initiatives were led by economic, fiscal andpoliticalreasons;thus itwasquiteobviousthatallthosestatisticshadtobekeptsecret.AswecanreadintheDiscourshistoriqueMonseigneurleDauphinsurleGouvernement
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
8/29
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
9/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 120
methodaspossible;thatthesmallernumberoftheirsubjectsmaybeabletoestimatetheirenormousimpositionsandexactions.ButRepublicanmoneyoughttobesimple,andadaptedtothemeanestcapacity(Root1796;inCohen2003:11).
So, Cohen synthesizes, bad governments prefer complicated money andinnumerate citizenswho cannot figure out how a tyrant can be fleecing them,whilerepublicangovernmentsshouldmakeitpossibleforpeopleofthemeanestcapacityto
beable
to
decode
the
countrys
budget
and
tax
policy
(Cohen
2003:
11).
The initiatives for thebettermentofconditionsofpoorestpeoplebackedby tradeunions, nonprofit organizations and religious groups in the late 1800s and at thebeginningsof1900sgaveastrongimpulsetotheuseofnumbersinthestudyofsociety,especiallyintheUnitedStates4(Cohen1982;Cobb&Rixford1998;Tobin1995:538).Onlyin the winter of 1929, the activity of gathering information on social topics wasinstitutionalized. Herbert Hoover who commissioned the report Recent EconomicChanges in the United States when in charge as Secretary of Commerce, aiming atamelioratingnational statisticsoncommerceasPresidentof theUnitedStatessetupthe Research Committee on Social Trends to investigate the overall condition of the
nation,
in
particular
the
social
conditions
of
life
in
the
American
society:
healthcare,
housing,welfare services (Hoover 1952: 312). Although the report issued in 1933wasreceived by contrasting views, it was the first official document devoted to socialmeasurement, covering numerous social conditions such as demographics, health, andeducation (Cobb&Rixford1998:8).But this impetus in the socialaccountingdidnotsucceed in surviving the incipient economic and financial crisis, all the efforts beingconcentrated inameliorating theeconometric tools.Shackle (1967)described theyearsfrom1936to1939astheroaringyearsforeconomics:inthoseyearswecanciteseminalworksbyKeynes(1936),Leontief(1936),Kuznets(1937)andTinbergen(1939).
4Around
1910,
the
Russell
Sage
Foundation
initiated
the
development
of
what
are
now
called
community
indicatorsusingprocessesthatareremarkably like theones thathavebeen reestablished in the1990s.SageprovidedagranttotheCharityOrganizationSociety (ofNewYork)tosurvey industrialconditions inPittsburgh (Smith 1991: 4041). After the studywas released in 1914, the Russell Sage Foundationwasbesiegedwithrequeststofundsimilarstudiesinothercities.Sinceitdidnothavethefundstodothat,thefoundationprovided technicaladvice instead.Partlyasa resultof this initiative,over two thousand localsurveyswere taken on education, recreation, public health, crime, and general social conditions (Cobb1998:67).
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
10/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 121
It was only in the mid1960s that the economists influence on the US publicadministrationstartedtoseeitsfirsttroubles.Thetraditionalwayofreportingthewelfareof the nationwere harshly criticized because based only upon economic parameters,traditionally,GDPandGNP.AsinthefamouswordsbyRobertKennedy:
Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence andcommunityvalues in themereaccumulationofmaterialthings.OurGrossNationalProduct,
now,
is
over
$800
billion
dollars
a
year,
but
that
Gross
National
Product
if
we
judge
the
United States of America by that that Gross National Product counts air pollution andcigaretteadvertising,andambulancestoclearourhighwaysofcarnage.Itcountsspeciallocksforourdoorsand thejails for thepeoplewhobreak them. It counts thedestructionof theredwoodand the lossofournaturalwonder inchaotic sprawl. Itcountsnapalmandcountsnuclearwarheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It countsWhitman'srifleandSpeck'sknife,andthetelevisionprogramswhichglorifyviolenceinordertoselltoystoourchildren.Yetthegrossnationalproductdoesnotallowforthehealthofourchildren,thequalityoftheireducationorthejoyoftheirplay.Itdoesnotincludethebeautyofour poetry or the strength of ourmarriages, the intelligence of our public debate or theintegrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither ourwisdomnorourlearning,neitherourcompassionnorourdevotiontoourcountry,itmeasureseverything in short, except thatwhichmakes lifeworthwhile.And it can tellus everything
aboutAmerica
except
why
we
are
proud
that
we
are
Americans
(1968).
ThosewordsechoedtheearlieroneswrittenbyBliss:
The land istheendowmentoftheCreatorand its increase invalueddoesnotrepresentanincreaseofwealthonthecontrary,with forestandminesand the fertilityof thesoil toalargeextentexhausted,thereisadecreaseinsteadofanincreaseofwealthofthischaracter.Couldthefewbeenabledtopreempttheairastheyhavethelandandcompelustopayfortheprivilegeofbreathingit,weshouldhaveanincreaseofpropertyvalues(1897:99).
Notwithstandingall the critics, thework conductedby theeconomic counselorofthegovernmentandresearchinstitutesasBrookingsbecameamodelforallwhowantedto apply social science to government action and searched for analogous criteria forprojecting social policies (Carley 1981: 17; Land 1983: 3). In this way, the AmericanAcademy of Arts and Sciences started to study funded by Nasa the indirectconsequencesofspatialprogramsonUSsociety;themaindifficulty,saidBauer,BidermanandGross,was in the lackofdata.The reportwas seenbyGross asa symptomof a
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
11/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 122
widespreadrebellionagainstwhathasbeencalledtheeconomicphilistinismoftheUSgovernmentspresentstatisticalestablishment(1966:ix).
Anewimpetusmadeavailablealargenumberofnationalsocialreports5,nottosaythelargeamountofinformationnowadourdispositionthankstoorganizationsasUndp,Ocse, etc. And this abundance of information is more and more important (even ifsometimes we should talk of information overload) if we agree that the citizens ofdemocratic governments [] need good information, to assess their leaders politicaldecisionsandjudgethemonelectionday.[]itisincreasinglythecasethatcandidaciesinthemoderneracanbewonor lostbasedontheunemploymentrate,thecrimerate,orthe Dow Jones index. Ourmultitudes of numerical indicators summarize the complexeconomic, political, and social health of the country, and citizens need to be able todecodeanddecipherthismoderndaypoliticalarithmetic(Cohen2003:7).
So,itisalegitimatepositionpretendingtomovebeyondthenaiveenthusiasmforpolitical arithmetick characteristic of the early nineteenth century, which valuednumbers for their seemingly objective, neutral, and therefore authoritative status(Cohen2003:8),andtodealwithtwoimportantissues:
1)the symbolic and constructedusesofpoliticalnumbers that canboth convey andhideimportantinformation,and2)theabsenceofadequateandequallydistributedinformationamongcitizens.
5Buttheuseofquantificationofsocialphenomenaforpurposesofsocialengineeringwasnotsharedbyall.In 1968, Russell Sage Foundation published Indicators of Social Change, edited by WilbertMoore andEleanor Bernert Sheldon: in this oeuvre, the authors contrasted not only using social indicators in thedecisionmakingprocess,buteventhepublicationofanannualsocialreport.Thepriorityhadtobegiventothe research and the betterment of the process of gathering information (Sheldon et al. 1983: 79).
Accordingly,problems
and
theoretic
foundations
were
clearer
in
the
social
domain
than
in
the
economic
one(Sheldon&Freeman1970).Itis importantthat itberecognized,particularlybythepolicymaker,thatthe social indicator movement, neither in conceptualization nor in state of the art, is ready to dealeffectivelywith the problems [] that surround policy development and implementation (Sheldon andFreeman1970:110).Ifitcanberecognizedthatsociologyfailednotonlyinthe1970stoconvergeinaunique one paradigmatic view of social phenomena, the preference accorded to economicsmay be theresultofaprocessof idealization,and simultaneouslyofunderestimationof thecomplexityofeconomicissues.
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
12/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 123
3. ThemisusesofquantificationAsmanyofhispredecessors,Ogburnthoughtthatsocialreportsshouldbebasedon
facts, not opinions, and that data and trends had to be presented without anyinterpretation. InOgburns view, the socialworld can be known only by facts, from
enumeration
and
measurement
of
social
phenomena.
And
if
the
study
of
society
and
socialtrendsisbasedonfactsregistration,thenstatisticsistheonlyreliablediscipline;forthat reason, he said, all sociologists will be statisticians (Ogburn 1930: 46). Hisapproachdominatedtheworkonthefollowingsocialindicatorsresearch.
RecentSocialTrendsinspiredbyOgburnwaswellreviewed,exceptbySorokin,whocriticizedthefactthatAnythingthatcannotbemeasured istobebannedor,atbest,barely toleratedsomewhereat theoutskirtsof theobjectiveandscientificstudy[]theyhavegivenusanirrelevantsetoffigures(Sorokin1933:196;197).Andaimingatbettergroundinghiscritic,Sorokinreportedsomeextractsfromthereport,abovethemthefollowingone:
Onemonth
after
issue,
180,000
copies
of
agovernment
pamphlet
on
furniture,
its
selection
anduse,weredistributed(1931)[]SixhundredthousandobjectsarelentannuallybytheSt.Louis Educational Museum alone [] The sale of Navajo blankets is reported as above$1,500,000in1930[]ThetownofOttawa,Kansas,withahighschoolpopulationof431hasanorchestraof90thathasfourtimeswonthestatecontest(cit.inSorokin1933,197).
Hisconclusion,drasticandat the same timecaustic:Was thereanyneedof thispainstaking elaboration of the obvious? (Sorokin 1933: 200). Sorokins criticsmay bevalid for a lot of todays works: infatuation for numbers obscured the importance ofconceptual refinement, pushing into the background semantic analysis, i.e. intensionalcharacteristicsofconcepts.Thisisabroadenproblem,thatgoesbeyondthissinglereport.
The
quest
for
precision
is
often
incongruent:
incongruent
compared
to
the
level
affordable
for the techniquesused indataproductionand to thenatureof thepropertiesstudied.Presentingdecimalsatallcostsoften isusedtohidethelackofsubstanceofourtables,gaininganeasycredibility(Marradi1993:53;Horn1993,18).This isacommonpractice,to such a degree that has several names:fallacy of the misplacedprecision,fallacy ofmisplacedconcreteness(Horn1993:18),speciousaccuracy(Morgenstern1950:3).
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
13/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 124
Changes inconsumerstotalspendingpowerarereported,andtakenseriously,downtothelast billion (i.e., about onehalf percent!), price indexes forwholesale prices are shown toseconddecimals,whentherehavebeensomanycomputingstepsthattheroundingofferrorsalonemayobliteratesuchadegreeofprecision.Unemployment figuresofseveralmillionsaregiven down to the last 1,000s (i.e., onetenth of one percent accuracy!), when even the100,000sorthemillionsareindoubt(Morgenstern1950,6).Thestudyofpolitics,likethestudyofeconomics,isusuallyaonedigitscienceatbest;infact,wedowelltogetthesign rightmore thanhalfthetime.Howthencananyonebeaskedto
takethe
third,
fourth,
and
fifth
significant
digits
seriously?
Why
do
professional
journals
publishthatcomputationaldebris?(Tufte1977:312).
InthesamewayEberstadtcommentedFAOsstatistics:
TheFAOreports,forexample,thatChad'spercapitafoodsupplyroseexactlysixcaloriesperday (that is, 0.3 percent) between 1977 and 1980, and that per capita food supplies inAfghanistanandChaddifferedbyexactlysevencaloriesperday(or0.4percent) in1980.Fortheperiods inquestion,however, it isthoughtthatupwardof90percentofthepopulaceofbothcountrieswasprobablyruralandilliterate,andasmuchashalfoftheproductionofgoodsandservicesinbothcountriesmayhaveoccurredinthenonmonetizedeconomy.(Eventheseestimates are only speculation, since a comprehensive economic survey has never been
attemptedin
either
nation;
at
the
time
of
these
FAO
estimates,
in
fact,
neither
country
had
everpublishedacensusofitspopulation)(1995:171).
So,thewordsbyThomasandThomasseemtohavebeenwrittentoday:insearchingthereasonsofthedistrustofstatistics,theyfoundtheunwisemanipulationsofdatathatareoftenmade,[] theexpression intermsofgreatprecisionofresultsobtainedwhencomplicated formulae are applied to very inexact data, and [] the totally erroneousassumptiononthepartofmanystatisticiansthatthestatisticalresultstellallthatcanbetoldabout the subject (1928:5701).Asdistrustof statistics isanold issue, thereareplentyofothercitationswhichwemaycite,butoneofthemostfamousissurelytheonefromDurkheim:
Onsait,malheureusement,quelesconstatationsofficiellessonttropsouventdfectueuses,alors mme qu'elles portent sur des faits matriels et ostensibles que tout observateurconsciencieuxpeutsaisiretquinelaissentaucuneplacelapprciation(1897/1990,144).
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
14/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 125
4. KnowledgeasademocraticissueThe second issue (the absence of adequate and equally distributed information
among citizens) can be synthesised by only one question: When information is wellconstructed,anditisatourdisposition,whocares?AspointedoutbyCurtin(2007:1),itisaninternationalcustombeingsurprisedthatsomesurveyfindsthatahighproportionof
people
could
not
name
their
representative
in
the
legislature
(Delli
Carpini
&
Keeter
1996),nordid theyhaveaccurateknowledgeaboutcommonmedicalconditions (Lucas1987),correctlyknowaboutplanetaryorbits(Lucas1988),thecurrentrateofinflationorunemployment (Blendon et al. 1997; Blinder & Krueger 2004; Curtin 2007), or theConsumerPriceIndex(CPI)andtherateofgrowthintheGrossDomesticProduct(Curtin2007;Giovannini2008a)6.
Curtinindicatethatonlyonethirdofall[US]respondentsreportedthattheyknewthe most recently published official rate of unemployment, oneinfive reportedknowledgeof themost recentlypublished rateof change in theConsumerPrice Index,and about oneinsix knew themost recently announced official rate of growth in theGross National Product. What was an even more dismal assessment of the publics
knowledgeof
these
official
statistics
was
that
one
fifth
of
all
respondents
reported
that
theyhadneverheardof theofficial rateofunemploymentpublishedby theBureauofLaborStatistics,onethirdreportedthattheyhadneverheardoftheofficialchangeintheConsumerPrice Index,and fourinten reported that theyhadneverheardof theGrossDomesticProductreportedbytheBureauofEconomicAnalysis(2007:7)7.
Similar results have been found in Europe; the survey on citizens knowledge ofeconomic indicators conducted in the spring of 2007 by Eurobarometer8 showed that
6FurtherexamplesinLusardiandMitchell(2009);Lusardi,MitchellandCurto(2009and2010);seealsothereportspublishedbyThePEWResearchCenter(www.peoplepress.org).
7To
be
sure,
even
fewer
people
reported
that
they
knew
the
official
rates
when
the
opt
out
option
was
giventotherespondent.Abouthalfasmanyrespondentsprovidedarateanswerwhentheoptoutoptionwasgivenfortheunemploymentrate(26%versus43%),theConsumerPriceIndex(13%versus27%)andfortheGrossDomestic Product (9% versus 23%). The data clearly indicate that peoplewere quick to takeadvantageofthequestionskippingoption(Curtin2007:7).8BetweenApril10thandMay15th,aspartof theEurobarometerwave67.2. Itcovers30countriesandterritories:The27EUMemberStates, its twocandidate statesCroatiaandTurkeyaswellas theTurkishCypriotCommunity(Eurobarometer2008:4).
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
15/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 126
largeproportionsofcitizensthroughoutEuropeclaimnottoknowtheircountrysgrowthrate, inflation rateorunemployment rate9.Even in those countrieswherepeopleweregenerally most inclined to give estimations for these figures (i.e. Denmark, theNetherlands, Slovakia and Germany),more than a third of respondents replied dontknow (Eurobarometer 2008: 42). Figure 1 shows themain results of Eurobarometerssurvey,reportingthepercentagesfor23correctanswers,1correctanswerand0correctanswer(thislastpercentageincludingthedontknowoption).
Fig.1.Knowledgeofthenationalgrowthrate,inflationrateandunemploymentrate.Percentageofanswersnotdifferingmorethan+/ 20%fromofficial
growth,inflationandunemploymentrates
Source:Eurobarometer(2008:27).
9 In the EU as a whole 53% of citizens admitted not to know their countrys economic growth rate(Eurobarometer 2008: 13) and their countrys inflation rate (ivi: 18); 48% say they do not know theunemploymentrateintheircountry(ivi:23).
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
16/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 127
Furthermore,theproportionofcitizenswhotrustofficialstatistics(46%)issimilartotheproportionclaimingthattheydonottrustofficialstatistics(Eurobarometer2008:37).Trust in official statistics reaches its highest levels in theNetherlands (77%), Denmark(73%)andFinland(69%)whiletheleasttrustisfoundinFrance(with60%whotendnottotrust),theUnitedKingdom(58%)andHungary(55%).
On the other side of the ocean again, we can mention the AmericasBarometersurveys by the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP), in which 40,990respondentsfromLatinAmericaandtheCaribbeanreceivedquestionsamongothersas What is the name of the current president of the US?, How many[provinces/departments/ states] does [country] have?, and How long is the[Presidential/PrimeMinisterial] termofoffice in [country]?10. Incorrect and doesnotknow responses were coded as 0, and correct responses were coded as 1, and anadditiveindexfrom0to3wascreated11(Fig.2).Eveniftheoperazionalizationofpoliticalknowledge isquitesimplest12,twospecificvariablesstoodoutasthemost informative:education and access to media at home had the strongest effects on political
knowledge(Batista
Pereira
2011:
5,
6).
10TheLAPOPdatacanbeaccessedatwww.lapopsurveys.org
11The rateofDoesnotknowresponses in these24countrieswasrespectively19.5%,25.2%and8.9%,
althoughtheLAPOPquestionwordingdidnotofferexplicitDoesnotknowoptions(DiazDominguez2011:1).12
Converses answer to the conventional complaint aboutmeasures of political information based on
knowledgeof
minor
facts
is
well
known:
although
Converse
took
as
example
the
question
on
the
length
of
termsofUS senators,hewrote thatthis isa tiresome canard. Informationmeasuresmustbe carefullyconstructedandmultiitem,butitdoesnottakemuchimaginationtorealizethatdifferencesinknowledgeofseveralsuchminor factsarediagnosticofmoreprofounddifferences in theamountandaccuracyofcontextualinformationvotersbringtotheirjudgmentsforextendedproofs(2000:333).Anyway,maybeamore exhaustive batterywould have been better. The same Converse recommended that informationmeasuresmustbecarefullyconstructedandmultiitem(ibidem),asstatedbytheold lazarsfeldian lessononconceptsandindicators.
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
17/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 128
Fig.2.PoliticalknowledgeinLatinAmericaandtheCaribbean,2010.Meannumberofcorrectanswers(min=0,max=3)
Source:2010
AmericasBarometer
by
LAPOP,
cit.
in
Daz
Domnguez
(2011:
1).
Inasimilarway13,Boidiconcludes, talkingaboutMexico, thatthosewhoalreadyhave other resources (education,wealth) are thosewith the higher levels of politicalknowledge.Political knowledge isanadditional resource that thosewhohave receivedmorebenefits from the system canput towork inorder tobemore favored,and thatthosewhoneedmorethesystemtoworkforthemlack(2007:29).WecansaywithDelliCarpini and Keeter that individual, systemic, and contextual factors have a reciprocalrelation: they feed one another, and this mutual influence, by promoting a spiral ofknowledge, is one reason there are great disparities in knowledge levels betweenindividuals (1996: 19). Its not a surprise to see that for US citizens they foundsignificant,oftendramaticgroupdifferencesinlevelsofpoliticalknowledge,withgroups
13 The 2004Mexico LAPOP survey asked four questionswith the aim to tap political sophistication. The
questionsweredesignedto inquireon factualpoliticalknowledge. Interviewerswereaskedwhethertheyknewthenameof theUSpresident,howmanystates thereare inMexico, the lengthofthepresidentialterminMexicoandthenameoftheBrazilianpresident.Onthissurvey,seeBoidi(2007).
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
18/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 129
that aremost disadvantaged in the social and economic spheres (women,blacks, lowincomecitizens,andyoungercitizens)alsotheleastinformed,andthusleastequippedtousethepoliticalsystemtoredresstheirgrievances(ibidem,18;seealsoCh.4).
Those research findings are important for understanding the function of nationalstatistics in implementingdemocraticaccountability.Voterscanvoteresponsiblyonlyiftheyhave reasonably accurate information aboutnational economicperformance.Thisinformation, of course, is often made accessible when it is summarized as statisticaltrends.[]Here,then,isacontributionofpublicstatisticstotheworkingsofdemocracy(Prewitt1986: 115).Again in thewordsby Prewitt, ademocratic society ispreservedwhenthepublichasreliablewaysofknowingwhetherpoliciesarehavingtheannouncedor promised effect []Numbers, a part of this publicly available political intelligence,consequently contribute to the accountability required of a democracy (1986: 119).SteenwarnsthataninnumeratecitizentodayisasvulnerableastheilliteratepeasantofGutenbergstime(1997:xv).
Buthowtoconcealthosetheoreticalfindingswithcrudereality,where itbecomesdifficult todo rathersimplearithmeticoperations (OECD2006)?Forexample, theAdultLiteracy and Life Skills Survey results confirm the IALS findings thatmany adults have
difficultiescoping
with
literacy14
and
numeracy15
related
demands
that
are
common
in
14 Literacy is referred tothe ability tounderstand andemployprinted information indaily activities, at
home, at work and in the community to achieve ones goals, and to develop ones knowledge andpotential;therearethreedomainsofliteracyskills:a)proseliteracytheknowledgeandskillsneededtounderstand and use information from texts including editorials, news stories, brochures and instructionmanuals;b)Documentliteracytheknowledgeandskillsrequiredtolocateanduseinformationcontainedin various formats, includingjob applications, payroll forms, transportation schedules,maps, tables andcharts; c)Quantitative literacy the knowledgeand skills required toapplyarithmeticoperations,eitheraloneorsequentially,tonumbersembeddedinprintedmaterials,suchasbalancingachequebook,figuringoutatip,completinganorderformordeterminingtheamountofinterestonaloanfromanadvertisement
(Oecd1995:
14).
15AsstatedbyODonoghue(2002:47),theresearchliteraturecontainsnouniversallyaccepteddefinition
ofnumeracy.Cockcroft(1982)identifiesthesourceoftheconceptandthetermnumeracyastheCrowtherReport (1959), which defined numeracy as the mirror image of literacy (par. 398) We would wishnumerateto implythepossessionoftwoattributes.The firstof these isan athomenesswithnumbersand an ability tomake use ofmathematical skillswhich enable an individual to copewith the practicalmathematical demands of his everyday life. The second is ability to have some appreciation andunderstandingof informationwhich ispresented inmathematical terms, for instance ingraphs,chartsor
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
19/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 130
modern lifeandwork.Furthermore,dependingon the country,betweenonethirdandover twothirdsofadultpopulationsdonotattain the level consideredbyexpertsasasuitable minimum level for coping with the increasing demands of the emergingknowledgesocietyandinformationeconomy(StatisticsCanada&OECD2005:31).
So,yes,numbersmaycontributetotheaccountabilityrequiredforademocracy,butwehavetodiscoverhow.Socialsciencescanhelpinthattasksearchingforthebestwayofstatisticscommunication.Themainquestionis,aspointedoutintheEurobarometersreport, How can data regarding social and economic progress [] be more widelydisseminated among the general public? Even more importantly, how can suchinformation be transformed into knowledge among citizens? (Eurobarometer, 2). ThepointisstilltheonestatedbyHenriot:
The taskof rationalizingdecisionmaking requiresnotonlydiscretebitsof informationbutalso theorganizationof that information intocoherentpatterns. Itseemscertain thatmoreandmoredatawillbegatheredatalllevelsofgovernment;whatislesscertainandyetmoresignificantisthatthedatawillbeeffectivelycoordinated(1970:237).
Thereisalsoanotherpoint:policydecisionsinEuropeareincreasinglytakeninthe
supranationaland
intergovernmental
arenas,
while
the
nation
state
has
remained
the
primaryfocusforcollectiveidentities,andpublicdebatesandcitizensparticipationinthepolicyprocessstillseemmainlysituatedatthenationstatelevelanddirectedatnationalauthorities,thusattheoriginofEuropesdemocraticdeficit(Koopmans&Erbe2004:97).
Although citizens are bombarded by information on a constant basis, thisbombardmentdoesnotnecessarilybring aboutknowledge (Giovannini2008a:178). Ifwhatpeopleknowmustnotbeconfusedwith theamountof information theyreceiveeverydayandabsorb from themostdisparatesources (Giovannini2008b:5), thenwehave to argue that there is not an automatic equivalence between knowledge and
exposition
to
information.
As
Somin
reminds
us,
we
have
witnessed
little
or
no
change
in
politicalknowledgelevelsoverthelast50years,despitegreatlyincreasededucationlevelsand a parallel increase in the availability of information through electronic and othermedia (2006:270).Asstatedbya reportby theNationalResearchCouncil,giventhe
tablesorby referencetopercentage increaseordecrease (Cockcroft1982:11;cit. inODonoghue2002:47).
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
20/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 131
relatively low level of numerical and statistical literacy in the population at large, itbecomes especially important to provide userswith interfaces that give them useful,meaningful information. []Thegoal is toprovidenotmerelyadata setbutalso toolsthatallowmakingsenseofthedata.(NRC2000,20).
Giovannini (2007) identifies those tools in the ability to harness the energy ofcollaborativedatasharingthroughthelikesofWeb2.0,andwiththegrowinginfluenceofblogging and themany tools that facilitate the rapid transferof information.But thiscannot be confused with a simplistic enthusiastic support for information andcommunication technology, given that it reduced the cost of producing statistics andnowadays a huge number of organisations is able to produce statistical figures andindices, frequently picked up by media [] and this contributes to create a sense ofconfusion []. This noise does not help at all citizens to make the best possiblechoices, including theelectoralones,and this isnotagood thing for the functioningofeconomicmarkets and the democracy (Giovannini 2008a: 178).Unfortunately, fewerattentionhasbeendedicated tostatisticscommunication,while itshouldbeseenasanintegralpartof theirproductionanddissemination (Maggino&Trapani2009:2).Betterlevelsofcommunicatinganddisseminatingresultsaresurelywelcomed,butthiswillsort
noeffects
without
adequate
numeracy
and
literacy
levels
both
on
public
and
policy
makersside.
ConcludingremarksStatistics quality is a long time studied subject, but a lot has to be written on
indicatorconstruction(andthequestion iswhyusingsuchan indicator?)oron indicesformulation(andthequestionishowmanyinformationareweacceptingtolooseinthesynthesisprocess?).Qualityof informationvisualization isakey subject for the future,
strictlyinterrelated
to
dissemination
process
and
to
the
citizens
numeracy:
how
many
timeshavewe listen toanaffirmation likehmmm statistics?Numbersarenot forme,thanks!? Better presentations and reinforcement of dissemination alone are notsufficient:acitizenneedtobeabletoread,write,calculateandreadnumbers.
Wehaveseenthatsocialphenomenaquantificationwasnotaneasytask,andthatseveralconcomitantfactors introducednumbers intothepublicdiscourse.Fromaphasewhenbasic informationsuchaspopulationwasunknown, to theone inwhichnumbers
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
21/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 132
wereknownbuthadtobekeptsecret,wehavearrivedtilltoday,withalargeamountofdataavailable,butwithlittlesupporttocitizensknowledge.Ourissurelyaninformationsociety,butisitaknowledgesociety?LetmeclosequotingMillswords:
Freedomisnotmerelythechancetodoasonepleases;neitherisitmerelytheopportunitytochoosebetweensetalternatives.Freedom is, firstofall,thechance to formulatetheavailable
choices,
to
argue
over
them
and
then,
the
opportunity
to
choose.
That
is
why
freedom
cannot
existwithoutanenlargedroleofhumanreasoninhumanaffairs(Mills1959:174).
ReferencesAbrams,M.(1951),SocialSurveyandSocialAction.London:WilliamHeinemann.
Anderson, B. (1991), Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread ofNationalism.NewYork:Verso.
Appadurai, A. (1996), Modernity at Large: The Cultural Dimension of Globalization.
Minneapolis:University
of
Minnesota
Press.
BatistaPereira,F.(2011),PoliticalKnowledgeLevelsacrosstheUrbanRuralDivideinLatinAmericaandtheCaribbean,inAmericasBarometerInsights:2011,n.68.
Blendon,R.J.etal.(1997),BridgingtheGapBetweenthePublicsandEconomistsViewsoftheEconomy,JournalofEconomicPerspectives,Vol.11,No.3.(Summer),105118.
Blinder,A.S.&Krueger,A.B.(2004),WhatDoesthePublicKnowaboutEconomicPolicy,andHowdoesItKnowIt?,BrookingsPapersonEconomicActivity,1.
Bliss,H.L.(1897),EccentricOfficialStatistics.II,TheAmericanJournalofSociology,3,1,7999.
Boidi,M. F. (2007),Political Knowledge and PoliticalAttitudes andBehavior inMexico,paperpresentedatthe2007MidwestPoliticalScienceAssociation.
Braudel,F.(1972),TheMediterraneanandtheMediterraneanWorldintheAgeofPhilipII.NewYork:Harper&Row.
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
22/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 133
Brian,E.(1994),LamesuredelEtat.AdministrateursetgomtresauXVIIIesicle.Paris:AlbinMichel.
BritishAssociationfortheAdvancementofScience(1833),ReportoftheThirdMeetingoftheBritishAssociationfortheAdvancementofScience.
Bruschi,A.(1999),Metodologiadellescienzesociali.Milano:BrunoMondadori.
Carley,M.
(1981),
Social
Measurement
and
Social
Indicators.
Issues
of
Policy
and
Theory.
London:GeorgeAllen&Unwin.
CentralAdvisoryCouncil forEducation (England) (1959)Areportof theCentralAdvisoryCouncilforEducation(England),CrowtherReport.London:HMSO
Cobb,C.W.&Craig,R.(1998),LessonsLearnedfromtheHistoryofSocial Indicators,SanFrancisco,www.rprogress.org
Cockcroft Committee (1982) Mathematics Counts: A Report into the Teaching ofMathematicsinSchools.London:HMSO.
Cohen, P. C. (2003), Democracy and the Numerate Citizen: Quantitative Literacy in
HistoricalPerspective,
in
Madison,
B.L.
&
Steen,
L.
A.
(eds.),
Proceedings
of
the
National
ForumonQuantitative Literacy heldat theNationalAcademyof Sciences,Washington,D.C.,December12,2001,NationalCouncilonEducationandtheDisciplines(NCED).
Cohen, P. C. (1982),A Calculating People: The Spread of Numeracy in EarlyAmerica,UniversityofChicagoPress.
Cohn,B.S.(1987),AnAnthropologistamongtheHistoriansandOtherEssays.NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress.
ConverseP.E. (2000),Assessing theCapacityofMassElectorates, inAnnualReviewofPoliticalScience,3,pp.331353.
Cullen,M.
J.
(1975),
The
Statistical
Movement
in
Early
Victorian
Britain:
The
Foundations
ofEmpiricalSocialResearch.NewYork:Barnes&Noble.
Curtin, R. (2007), What U.S. Consumers Know About Economic Conditions,www.oecd.org/dataoecd/59/50/39562118.pdf
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
23/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 134
dalaRivaBonvesin(1288),DemagnalibusMediolaniMeravigliediMilano.Milano:LibriScheiwiller,1997.
DelliCarpini,M.X.&Scott,K. (1996),WhatAmericansKnowaboutPoliticsandWhy ItMatters.YaleUniversityPress.
Desrosires, A. (1989), Comment faire des choses qui tiennent? Histoire sociale etstatistique,Histoireetmesure,IV,34,ditionsduCNRS,225242.
DazDomnguez,A.(2011),PoliticalKnowledgeandReligiousChannelsofSocialization inLatinAmerica,AmericasBarometerInsights:2011,n.55.
Durkheim,E.(1897),Lesuicide.Etudedesociologie.Paris:Quadrige/PressesUniversitairesdeFrance.
Eberstadt,N.(1995),TheTyrannyofNumbers.MismeasurementandMisrule.Washington:TheAEIPress.
Eurobarometer (2008), Europeans Knowledge of Economic Indicators, SpecialEurobarometer/Wave67.2TNSOpinion&Social.
Foucault,M.
(1975),
Surveiller
et
punir.
Naissance
de
la
prison.
Paris:
Gallimard.
Foucault,M.(2001),Lesmaillesdupouvoir,inDitsetcritsII,19761988.Paris:GallimardQuarto,10011020.
Gioja,M.(1826),Filosofiadellastatistica.TomoI;cit.from1837,FilosofiadellastatisticaespostadaMelchiorreGioja;collenotiziestorichesullavitaesulleoperedellautore.Gius.Ruggia&C.
Giovannini, E. (2007), Why measuringprogress matters,OECDObserverNo. 262, July,www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2283
Giovannini,E. (2008a),StatisticsandPolitics ina KnowledgeSociety,Social Indicators
Research,86,
177
200.
Giovannini, E. (2008b), The role of communication in transforming statistics intoknowledge, Conference on Data Quality for International Organizations Session 3:Disseminationplatforms tomakedatamoreaccessibleand interpretable,Rome, Italy,7and8July2008.
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
24/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 135
Gross,B.M. (1966),TheStateof theNation:SocialSystemsAccounting, inBauer,R.A.(ed.),SocialIndicators.Cambridge:MIT,154271.
Gross,B.M.&SpringerM.(1967),ANewOrientationinAmericanGovernment,AnnalsoftheAmericanAcademyofPoliticalandSocialScience,371,SocialGoalsandIndicatorsforAmericanSociety,Volume1,May,119.
Habermas, J. (1962), Strukturwandel der ffentlicheit. Hermann Luchterhand Verlag,
Darmstadtund
Neuwied;
The
Structural
Transformation
of
the
Public
Sphere.
An
Inquiry
intoaCategoryofBourgeoisSociety.Cambridge:MITPress,1989.
Hacking,I.(1990),TheTamingofChance.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress.
Hecth, J. (1977), Lide de dnombrementjusqu la Rvolution, in Aa.Vv., Pour unehistoiredelastatistique.Paris:Economica/Insee,2171.
Henriot, P. J. (1970), Political Questions about Social Indicators, The Western PoliticalQuarterly,Vol.23,No.2(June),235255.
Hess,V.(2000),DerwohltemperierteMensch.WissenschaftundAlltagdesFiebermessens(18501900).Frankfurt:CampusVerlag.
Hess,V. (2005), Standardizing Body Temperature:Quantification inHospitals andDailyLife,inJorland,G.,Opinel,A.,&Weisz,G.(eds.),109126.
Himmelfarb, G. (1991), Poverty and Compassion: The Moral Imagination of the LateVictorians.NewYork:AlfredA.Knopf.
Hoover,H.(1952),TheMemoirsofHerbertHoover.TheCabinetandthePresidency19201933.NewYork:Macmillan.
Horkheimer,M.&Adorno,T.W.(1966),Dialetticadellilluminismo:Torino,Einaudi.
Horkheimer, M. & Adorno, T. W. (eds.) (1956), Soziologische Exkurse, Frankfurter
Beitrgezur
Soziologie,
vol.
4,
Institut
fr
Sozialforschung.
Frankfurt
am
Main:
EuropischeVerlagsanstalt;cit.fromLezionidisociologia.Torino:Einaudi,2001.
Horn,R.V. (1993),Statistical Indicatorsfor theEconomic&SocialSciences.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress.
Hull,C.H.(1896),GrauntorPetty?,PoliticalScienceQuarterly,11,1,(Mar.),105132.
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
25/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 136
Hull,C.H.(1899),Introduction,inHull,C.H.(ed.,1899),xiiixci.
Hull, C.H. (ed.) (1899), The EconomicWritings of Sir William Petty, together with TheObservationsuponBillsofMortality,moreprobablybyCaptainJohnGraunt.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,2voll.
Jorland,G.,Opinel,A.,&Weisz,G.(eds.)(2005),BodyCounts.MedicalQuantification inHistorical and Sociological Perspective / La quantification medicale, perspectives
historiqueset
sociologiques.
Montreal
&
Kingston:
McGill
Queens
University
Press.
Kennedy,F.R. (1968),RemarksofRobertF.Kennedyat theUniversityofKansas,March18,1968,JohnF.KennedyPresidentialLibraryandMuseum,www.jfklibrary.org
Keynes, J.M. (1936), TheGeneral Theory of Employment Interest andMoney. London:Macmillan&Co.
Kiser,E.&Kane, J. (2001),RevolutionandStateStructure:TheBureaucratizationofTaxAdministration inEarlyModernEnglandandFrance,TheAmericanJournalofSociology,107,1,(Jul.),183223.
Kitsuse, J. I. & Cicourel, A. V. (1963), A Note on the Uses of Official Statistics, SocialProblems,11,2,131139.
Koopmans, R. & Erbe, J. (2004), Towards a European Public Sphere? Vertical andHorizontal Dimensions of Europeanized Political Communication, Innovation TheEuropeanJournalofSocialScienceResearch,vol.17,no.2,June,97118.
Kuznets, S. (1937), National Income and Capital Formation, 19191935. New York:NationalBureauofEconomicResearch.
Land,K.C.(1983),SocialIndicators,AnnualReviewofSociology,9,126.
Laslett, P. (1973), Introduction, in The Earliest Classics:JohnGraunt andGregory King.
Farnborough:Gregg
International
Publishers.
Lazarsfeld, P. F. (1961), Notes on the History of Quantification in Sociology Trends,SourcesandProblems,Isis,52,2(June),277333.
Leontief,W.W.(1936),Quantitative InputandOutputRelationsintheEconomicSystemoftheUnitedStates,TheReviewofEconomicsandStatistics,18,3,105125.
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
26/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 137
Lucas,A.M.(1987),Publicknowledgeofbiology,JournalofBiologicalEducation,vol.21,no.1,pp.4145.
Lucas,A.M. (1988),Publicknowledgeofelementaryphysics,PhysicsEducation,vol.23,pp.1016.
Lusardi, A.&Mitchell,O.S. (2009), How Ordinary Consumers Make Complex EconomicDecisions:FinancialLiteracyandRetirementReadiness,NBERWorkingPaperNo.15350.
Lusardi, A., Mitchell, O. S. & Curto, V. (2009), Financial Literacy and FinancialSophisticationAmongOlderAmericans,NBERWorkingPaperNo.15469.
Lusardi, A., Mitchell, O. S. & Curto, V. (2010), Financial Literacy among the Young:EvidenceandImplicationsforConsumerPolicy,NBERWorkingPaperNo.15352.
Maggino, F. & Trapani M. (2009), Presentare e comunicare le statistiche: principi,componenti e valutazione della loro qualit (parte 1), in SisMagazine, 2 ottobre,http://www.sisstatistica.it/magazine
Maggino F., Presenting and communicating statistics. Principles, components andassessment,invitedkeynotelectureratXNationalConferenceofStatisticsStatistica2.0:vivere l'innovazionealserviziodellasociet.SessionScenari(December15162010RomeItaly).
Marradi,A.(1993),Lanalisimonovariata,Milano:FrancoAngeli,2ndedition1995.
Mills,C.W.(1959),TheSociologicalImagination,NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress.
Morgenstern,O.(1950),OntheAccuracyofEconomicObservations.Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress.
National Research Council (NRC) (2000), Information Technology Researchfor FederalStatistics,www.nap.edu/catalog/9874.html
ODonoghue,J.
(2002),
Numeracy
and
Mathematics,
Irish
Mathematical
Society
Bulletin,
48,4755
OECD (1995), Literacy, economy and society: Results of the First International AdultLiteracySurvey.ParisOttawa.
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
27/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 138
OECD(2008),Statistics,KnowledgeandPolicy2007.Measuringandfosteringtheprogressofsocieties.Paris:Oecd.
OECD(2006),PISAAssessingScientific,Reading,andMathematicalLiteracy.Paris:OECD.
Ogburn,W.F.(1930),TheFolkwaysofaScientificSociology,PublicationsoftheAmericanSociologicalSociety,16,111.Parra
Saiani,
P.
(2009),
Gli
indicatori
sociali.
Milano:
FrancoAngeli.
Petty,W.(1661),DiscoursesaboutaRegistryandsettlemt.ofIreland,n.25,inMarquisofLansdowne(ed.,1927),ThePettyPapers.SomeUnpublishedWritingsofSirWilliamPetty.London,Constable.
Petty,W.(1690),PoliticalArithmetick,oraDiscourseconcerning,TheExtentandValueofLands,People,Buildings:Husbandry,Manufacture,Commerce,Fishery,Artizans,Seamen,Soldiers;PublickRevenues, Interest,Taxes,Superlucration,Registries,BanksValuationofMen, IncreasingofSeamen,ofMilitias,Harbours,Situation,Shipping,PoweratSea,&c.AsthesamerelatestoeveryCountryingeneral,butmoreparticularlytotheTerritoriesof
HisMajestyofGreatBritain,andhisNeighboursofHolland,Zealand,andFrance.London.
Pinkney,D. (1986),DecisiveYears inFrance,18401847.Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress.
Piovani, J. I. (2006), Alle origini della statistica moderna. La scuola inglese di fineOttocento.Milano:FrancoAngeli.
Poovey,M.(1998),AHistoryoftheModernFact:ProblemsofKnowledgeintheSciencesofWealthandSociety.Chicago:ChicagoUniversityPress.
Porter,T.M.(2005),MedicalQuantification:Science,Regulation,andtheState,inJorlandG.,OpinelA.,&WeiszG.(eds.),394401.
Porter,T.
M.
(1995),
Trust
in
numbers:
The
Pursuit
of
Objectivity
in
Science
and
Public
Life.
Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress.
Prewitt,K.(1986),PublicStatisticsandDemocraticPolitics,inSmelser,N.J.&Gerstein,D.R. (eds.), Behavioral and Social Science. Fifty Years of Discovery.Washington:NationalAcademyPress.
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
28/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 139
Reyni,D.(1992),Leregardsouverain.Statistiquesocialeetraisond'EtatduXVIeauXVIIIesicle,inLazzeri,C.&Reyni,D.(eds.),Laraisond'tat:politiqueetrationalit.Paris:Puf.4382.
Root,E.(1796),AnIntroductiontoArithmeticfortheUseofCommonSchools.Norwich.
Rose,N.(1990),GoverningtheSoul.London:Routledge.
Rusnock,A.
(2005),
Quantifying
Infant
Mortality
in
England
and
France,
1750
1800,
in
Jorland,G.,Opinel,A.,&Weisz,G.(eds.),6667.
Shackle,G.L.S.(1967),TheYearsofHighTheory.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress.
Sheldon, E.Bernert& Freeman,H. E. (1970),Noteson Social Indicators:promises andpotential,PolicyScience,1,9,77111.
Sheldon,E.Bernert,Parke,R.&Aborn,M.(1983),RecollectionsandViewsofKeyFiguresintheSocialIndicatorsProgram,Items,37,4,7889.
Sherman, S. (2001), Imaging Poverty. Quantification and the Decline of Paternalism.Columbus:TheOhioStateUniversityPress.
Smith,J.
A.
(1991),
The
Idea
Brokers:
Think
Tanks
and
the
Rise
of
the
New
Policy
Elite.
New
York:FreePress.
Somin I. (2006), Knowledge about Ignorance: New Directions in the Study of PoliticalInformation,CriticalReview,18,nos.13,pp.255278.
Sorokin, P. (1933), Recent Social Trends: A Criticism, TheJournal of Political Economy,April,41,2,194210.
StatisticsCanada&OECD(2005),LearningaLiving:FirstResultsoftheAdultLiteracyandLifeSkillsSurvey.OttawaandParis.
Steen L. A. (1997), The New Literacy, in Steen, L. A. (ed.), Why Numbers Count:QuantitativeLiteracyforTomorrowsAmerica.NewYork:TheCollegeBoard.
Tinbergen, J. (1939), Statistical Testing of Business Cycle Theories. Geneva: League ofNationsIntelligenceService.
Tobin,W.A.(1995),StudyingSociety:TheMakingofRecentSocialTrendsintheUnitedStates,19291933,TheoryandSociety,24,4(August),537565.
-
8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs
29/29
ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863
ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales
Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 140
Torgerson, D. (1986), Between knowledge and politics: Three faces of policy analysis,PolicySciences,19,1(Mar.),3359.
Tufte,E.R.(1977),PoliticalStatisticsfortheUnitedStates:ObservationsonSomeMajorDataSources,TheAmericanPoliticalScienceReview,Vol.71,No.1(March),pp.305314.
Weber,M. (1922a), Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft.Mohr: Tbingen, ed. J.Winckelmann,1956;Economiaesociet.I.Teoriadellecategoriesociologiche.Milano:Comunit,1995.
Weber,M. (1922b), Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft.Mohr: Tbingen, ed. J.Winckelmann,1956;Economiaesociet.II.Economiaetipidicomunit.Milano:Comunit,1995.