Funny Numbers
The struggle over cure rate measures in nineteenth-century asylums provides an exemplary instance of how, when used for official assessments of institutions, these numbers become sites of contestation. The evasion of goals and corruption of measures tends to make these numbers “funny” in the sense o...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Linköping University Electronic Press
2013-01-01
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Series: | Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://cultureunbound.ep.liu.se/article/view/2022 |
_version_ | 1818489718868803584 |
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author | Theodore M. Porter |
author_facet | Theodore M. Porter |
author_sort | Theodore M. Porter |
collection | DOAJ |
description | The struggle over cure rate measures in nineteenth-century asylums provides an exemplary instance of how, when used for official assessments of institutions, these numbers become sites of contestation. The evasion of goals and corruption of measures tends to make these numbers “funny” in the sense of becoming dishonest, while the mismatch between boring, technical appearances and cunning backstage manipulations supplies dark humor. The dangers are evident in recent efforts to decentralize the functions of governments and corporations using incen-tives based on quantified targets. |
first_indexed | 2024-12-10T17:07:18Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-617135d97ad14846900c3b6acf409d04 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2000-1525 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-12-10T17:07:18Z |
publishDate | 2013-01-01 |
publisher | Linköping University Electronic Press |
record_format | Article |
series | Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research |
spelling | doaj.art-617135d97ad14846900c3b6acf409d042022-12-22T01:40:25ZengLinköping University Electronic PressCulture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research2000-15252013-01-014410.3384/cu.2000.1525.124585Funny NumbersTheodore M. Porter0University of California, Los Angeles, USAThe struggle over cure rate measures in nineteenth-century asylums provides an exemplary instance of how, when used for official assessments of institutions, these numbers become sites of contestation. The evasion of goals and corruption of measures tends to make these numbers “funny” in the sense of becoming dishonest, while the mismatch between boring, technical appearances and cunning backstage manipulations supplies dark humor. The dangers are evident in recent efforts to decentralize the functions of governments and corporations using incen-tives based on quantified targets.https://cultureunbound.ep.liu.se/article/view/2022Funny numbershistory of mental hospitalshistory of statisticsstandardization of statisticsstatistics of mental illnesstechnicality |
spellingShingle | Theodore M. Porter Funny Numbers Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research Funny numbers history of mental hospitals history of statistics standardization of statistics statistics of mental illness technicality |
title | Funny Numbers |
title_full | Funny Numbers |
title_fullStr | Funny Numbers |
title_full_unstemmed | Funny Numbers |
title_short | Funny Numbers |
title_sort | funny numbers |
topic | Funny numbers history of mental hospitals history of statistics standardization of statistics statistics of mental illness technicality |
url | https://cultureunbound.ep.liu.se/article/view/2022 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT theodoremporter funnynumbers |