Collecting and analyzing data on unemployment, inflation, and inequality help describe the complex world around us. When published by the government, such data are called official statistics. They are reported by the media, used by politicians to lend weight to their arguments, and by economic commentators to opine about the state of society. Despite such widescale use, explanations about how these measures are constructed are seldom provided for a non-technical reader. This Measuring Society book is a short, accessible guide to six topics: jobs, house prices, inequality, prices for goods and services, poverty, and deprivation. Each relates to concepts we use on a personal level to form an understanding of the society in which we live: We need a job, a place to live, and food to eat. Using data from the United States, we answer three basic questions: why, how, and for whom these statistics have been constructed. We add some context and flavor by discussing the historical background. This book provides the reader with a good grasp of these measures. Chaitra H. Nagaraja is an Associate Professor of Statistics at the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University in New York. Her research interests include house price indices and inequality measurement. Prior to Fordham, Dr. Nagaraja was a researcher at the U.S. Census Bureau. While there, she worked on projects relating to the American Community Survey.

This volume presents an eclectic mix of original research articles in areas covering the analysis of ordered data, stochastic modeling and biostatistics. These areas were featured in a conference held at the University of Texas at Dallas from March 7 to 9, 2014 in honor of Professor H. N. Nagaraja's 60th birthday and his distinguished contributions to statistics. The articles were written by leading experts who were invited to contribute to the volume from among the conference participants. The volume is intended for all researchers with an interest in order statistics, distribution theory, analysis of censored data, stochastic modeling, time series analysis, and statistical methods for the health sciences, including statistical genetics.

This volume presents an eclectic mix of original research articles in areas covering the analysis of ordered data, stochastic modeling and biostatistics. These areas were featured in a conference held at the University of Texas at Dallas from March 7 to 9, 2014 in honor of Professor H. N. Nagaraja's 60th birthday and his distinguished contributions to statistics. The articles were written by leading experts who were invited to contribute to the volume from among the conference participants. The volume is intended for all researchers with an interest in order statistics, distribution theory, analysis of censored data, stochastic modeling, time series analysis, and statistical methods for the health sciences, including statistical genetics.

Collecting and analyzing data on unemployment, inflation, and inequality help describe the complex world around us. When published by the government, such data are called official statistics. They are reported by the media, used by politicians to lend weight to their arguments, and by economic commentators to opine about the state of society. Despite such widescale use, explanations about how these measures are constructed are seldom provided for a non-technical reader. This Measuring Society book is a short, accessible guide to six topics: jobs, house prices, inequality, prices for goods and services, poverty, and deprivation. Each relates to concepts we use on a personal level to form an understanding of the society in which we live: We need a job, a place to live, and food to eat. Using data from the United States, we answer three basic questions: why, how, and for whom these statistics have been constructed. We add some context and flavor by discussing the historical background. This book provides the reader with a good grasp of these measures. Chaitra H. Nagaraja is an Associate Professor of Statistics at the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University in New York. Her research interests include house price indices and inequality measurement. Prior to Fordham, Dr. Nagaraja was a researcher at the U.S. Census Bureau. While there, she worked on projects relating to the American Community Survey.