History Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-2001
Publication Source
Comparative Studies in Society and History
Abstract
Categorization plays an integral part in how we see and interpret the world. This is especially true when we attempt to comprehend the complexities of human society, where the heterogeneity of human activity across time and space demands that some criterion (class, gender, age, profession, etc.) be used to reduce the number of variables examined. From the mid-nineteenth century—as statistics evolved from the simple “political arithmetic” of tax collectors and army recruiters into a potential science of human behavior—categorizing the population became a contentious issue that reflected the social and political agendas of data collectors. At the same time, when data refused to be molded to researchers’ assumptions, the task of putting people and their activities into analytical categories challenged the validity of the categories themselves. In this way, statistical representations and categories became socially constructed knowledge.
Inclusive pages
788-818
ISBN/ISSN
0010-4175
Document Version
Postprint
Copyright
Copyright © 2001, Society for Comparative Study of Society and History.
Publisher
Society for Comparative Study of Society and History
Volume
43
Issue
4
Peer Reviewed
yes
eCommons Citation
Darrow, David W., "From Commune to Household: Statistics and the Social Construction of Chaianov's Theory of Peasant Economy" (2001). History Faculty Publications. 18.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/hst_fac_pub/18
Comments
The document available for download, provide here in compliance with publisher policies on self-archiving, is the author's accepted manuscript. Some differences may exist between this version and the final published version. As such, researchers wishing to quote directly from it are advised to consult with the version of record.
Permission documentation is on file.