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Making it count: statistics and statecraft in the early People's Republic of China/ Arunabh Ghosh

By: Publication details: New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2020Description: xvi, 340 pages, 23 cmISBN:
  • 9780691179476
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 23 S.0951249 G427
Contents:
A Statistical Revolution -- Scientists -- The Nature of Statistical Work -- State InCapacity -- A Great Leap in Statistics -- Conclusion
Summary: In 1949, at the end of a long period of wars, one of the biggest challenges facing leaders of the new People's Republic of China was how much they did not know. The government of one of the world's largest nations was committed to fundamentally reengineering its society and economy via socialist planning while having almost no reliable statistical data about their own country. Making It Count is the history of efforts to resolve this "crisis in counting." Drawing on a wealth of sources culled from China, India, and the United States, Arunabh Ghosh explores the choices made by political leaders, statisticians, academics, statistical workers, and even literary figures in attempts to know the nation through numbers.
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Includes bibliographical references and index

A Statistical Revolution -- Scientists -- The Nature of Statistical Work -- State InCapacity -- A Great Leap in Statistics -- Conclusion

In 1949, at the end of a long period of wars, one of the biggest challenges facing leaders of the new People's Republic of China was how much they did not know. The government of one of the world's largest nations was committed to fundamentally reengineering its society and economy via socialist planning while having almost no reliable statistical data about their own country. Making It Count is the history of efforts to resolve this "crisis in counting." Drawing on a wealth of sources culled from China, India, and the United States, Arunabh Ghosh explores the choices made by political leaders, statisticians, academics, statistical workers, and even literary figures in attempts to know the nation through numbers.

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