The Use and Misuse of Statistics in Social Work

The general theory underlying the use of the statistical method in social work is so plausible and attractive that few to-day would venture seriously to attack it. That every social condi? tion is due to some cause or causes, that social remedies depend for their effectiveness on knowledge of causes, that this knowl? edge involves more or less investigation and examination are almost self-evident propositions, stated in this general way, and lead naturally to the employment of the statistical method as a form of research especially applicable where large numbers are to be dealt with, as in the case of social groups. And so it happens that every phase of the growing interest in social conditions and social betterment is manifesting itself in the endeavor to produce its own appropriate form of social statistics.