PS390 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Statistical Inference, Karl Pearson, Statistics
Document Summary
Statistical thinking took root in economically privileged, 1800s societies. Quetelet influentially applied statistics to human biological measures (ex height of army recruits) + proposed the normal curve of distributed scores indicates an ideal natural observation, the statistical mean (l"homme moyen) By late 1800s, professional statistical associations were formed to collect actuarial data to influence public policy and enhance administration of society. Numeracy became as socially desirable for individuals" social advancement as literacy. Mathematicians developed statistical procedures for analyzing complex data to identify regularities in human life, moving from descriptive to inferential statistics. Statisticians believed the perceived order beneath the apparent randomness/complexity of social life reflected orderliness in nature; this belief was the origin of scientific inclination to the dictum, Let the facts speak for themselves, as if data have purely objective standing. While attempting to scientifically justify eugenics on basis of a selective interpretation of. Darwinian theory, galton encountered problem of how to measure variation in individuals" psychological traits.
