Böcker av William Petersen

Official statistics about ethnicity in advanced societies are no better than those in less developed countries. An open industrial society is inherently fluid, and it is as hard to interpret social class and ethnic groups there as in a nearly static community. In consequence, the collection and interpretation of ethnic statistics is frequently a battleground where the groups being counted contest each element of every enumeration.William Petersen describes how ethnic identity is determined and how ethnic or racial units are counted by official statistical agencies in the United States and elsewhere. The chapters in this book cover such topics as: "Identification of Americans of European Descent," "Differentiation among Blacks," "Ethnic Relations in the Netherlands," "Two Case Studies: Japan and Switzerland," and "Who is a Jew?"Petersen argues that the general public is overly impressed by assertions about ethnicity, particularly if they are supported by numbers and graphs. The flood of American writings about race and ethnicity gives no sign of abatement. Ethnicity Counts offers an indispensible background to meaningful interpretation of statistics on ethnicity, and will be important to sociologists, historians, policymakers, and government officials.

Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834), one of the most influential of modern thinkers, is also one of the most misunderstood

Problems associated with aggregation and classification are the underlying theme of this book

With the insight and clarity that mark all of Petersen's writings, Against the Stream brings together reflections of an unconventional demographer

The tightening and loosening of ethnic identity under changing definitions of "Americanism" is emphasized in this volume.

Official statistics about ethnicity in advanced societies are no better than those in less developed countries

This text offers a comprehensive exposition of Robert Malthus thought, integrating his better-known theory on population with his somewhat neglected analysis of economic development and social structure. It aims to give readers a basis for contrasting Malthus with competing theories.