Quantity and Polity: Asylum Statistics and the Drive for Medical Evidence

Porter, Theodore M.

doi:10.1007/978-94-007-2627-7_18

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The Anglo-Scandinavian King Canute could not still the seas by mere force of his command, but he might have secured a reputation in social science by forecasting a millennium in which the statistical tide would never ebb. (Porter 1986;Hacking 1990) Yet, we must ask, what boats did this tide lift? Physicians, traditionally, had been suspicious of statistics.…”

Section: Keeping Proper Recordsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pretensions like these should be backed up by proper records. (Committee appointed 1789, 20, 25;Porter 2012a) We can be impressed by the sweep of the quantifying bustle that accompanied the transformative political, economic, and scientific developments of the early nineteenth century without pretending to have located a clean historical rupture. While the reactions to George III's mental breakdown in 1789 mark a convenient beginning for a historical study of asylum statistics, the story remains halting and episodic until the 1830s.…”

Section: Keeping Proper Recordsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Funny numbers enjoy a symbiotic relationship with the modern social sciences, which have typically been impatient with historical and cultural depth, preferring what I call thin description. They flourish in that world of subtle differences occluded by thin description, permitting a kind of arbitrage that highlights once more the links to finance (Porter 1986(Porter , 2003(Porter , 2012bDesrosières 1993).…”

Section: Numbers Of Neoliberalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In any case, it is the proper task of social science to pursue historical and cultural understanding of these ostensibly technical disputes. These situations are profoundly ironical, and an accurate narration of number wars should be funny, or at least sardonic (Porter 1995(Porter , 2009Rottenburg 2009). …”

Section: Numbers Of Neoliberalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Funny Numbers

Porter¹

2013

Cult. Unbound

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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 incentives based on quantified targets.

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Section: Keeping Proper Recordsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Keeping Proper Recordsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Numbers Of Neoliberalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Numbers Of Neoliberalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Funny Numbers

Porter¹

2013

Cult. Unbound

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Funny Numbers

2020

Logos

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The difficulties associated with evaluating the efficiency of treatment in mental hospitals in the 19th century provide a vivid example of how numbers become a stumbling block when used for official evaluation of institutions. The evasion of assessment due to private interests or because of corruption 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 article focuses on the various ways in which medical clinics and government agencies as well as large companies manipulate numbers for the sake of improving performance and finding objective facts. The author examines and analyzes the practices of classification, standardization and ordering of the parameters by which the performance of a particular structure is assessed, while also questioning the relevance of these number-based practices as an assessment tool. The article cites as an example the various tricks resorted to by directors of treatment centers for the mentally ill in order to improve performance and claim that most of their patients are healthy when discharged. The hidden ambivalence of numbers, their deceptiveness and their unsuitability for resolving contradictions and unifying experience based on statistical data are demonstrated. The concept of a thin description is also introduced, which implies an unambiguous interpretation of funny numbers and using them as an argument for evaluating efficiency. The dangers are evident in recent efforts to decentralize the functions of governments and corporations by using incentives based on quantified targets.

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Quantity and Polity: Asylum Statistics and the Drive for Medical Evidence

Cited by 2 publications

References 9 publications

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