ABSTRACT
Most claims drawing attention to new social problems aim to persuade all of the members of the general public. They are the audience, or at least one important audience, for statistics and other claims about social problems. The general public tends to be receptive to claims about new social problems, and they rarely think critically about social problems statistics. The media like to report statistics because numbers seem to be factual, little nuggets of truth. Innumeracy is the mathematical equivalent of illiteracy; it is an inability to deal comfortably with the fundamental notions of number and chance. Innumeracy—widespread confusion about basic mathematical ideas—means that many statistical claims about social problems do not get the critical attention they deserve. Data that come from the government—crime rates, unemployment rates, poverty rates—are official statistics. Official statistics reflect what sociologists call organizational practices—the organization's culture and structure shape officials' actions, and those actions determine whatever statistics finally emerge.
