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22 reviews for:
Democracy's Data: The Hidden Stories in the U.S. Census and How to Read Them
Dan Bouk
3.81 AVERAGE
22 reviews for:
Democracy's Data: The Hidden Stories in the U.S. Census and How to Read Them
Dan Bouk
3.81 AVERAGE
informative
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
The census is one of the most crucial aspects of our democracy - and because of that, it has been politicized for generations, beginning with the 3/5ths compromise to the citizenship question of 2020. The history of why certain questions and answers appear on the census reveals unique tidbits of history and culture. Like how Hawaii had a very high domestic partnership rate in 1940 due to fruit pickers rooming together.
I'm all in for some hard history, but Bouk gets a little cute and geeks out too much for my liking. The epilogue was so long and all about how he answered the 2020 census and why.
A book where you'll take away some fun facts and deepen your appreciation for the census
I'm all in for some hard history, but Bouk gets a little cute and geeks out too much for my liking. The epilogue was so long and all about how he answered the 2020 census and why.
A book where you'll take away some fun facts and deepen your appreciation for the census
informative
slow-paced
This book is definitely for anyone who is interested in the census. The author goes in depth about the history of the census in the United States, some cases where the census needed to be adjusted/didn’t fit everyone’s circumstances, and information on how to read the census. I found the information on reading the census invaluable to my genealogical research. I think eventually I’ll have to go back to read the parts that are more centered on history and context.
I think that the New York Times put it best in their review, where they called this book "endearingly nerdy" and "deft and surprisingly live." Democracy's Data is written to show that there are more to census data than statistics. Genealogists know this well, but the stories that are told in census records are nuanced and complex, revealing much more than people's names and addresses. This book invites you to see the beauty in government statistics. There's much more there than meets the eye!
Could have been 5 stars, but some chapters were dry/too boring. This was probably partially because I listened to the audio book and there were sections where they read out large numbers over and over which would have been easier to zoom by as written text.
I really liked how the author personalized the data in the census. Again, some of the random individuals from the census were pretty boring people to spend a chapter on, but it was neat to see so much information about people from the 1940s. It also enlightened me a lot about the limits of data collection/analysis, and about the more mundane yet very important parts of democracy.
I really liked how the author personalized the data in the census. Again, some of the random individuals from the census were pretty boring people to spend a chapter on, but it was neat to see so much information about people from the 1940s. It also enlightened me a lot about the limits of data collection/analysis, and about the more mundane yet very important parts of democracy.
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
Fell off due to tie of month - also was less what I was expecting. Interesting nonetheless, just not what I was looking for rn
informative
reflective
medium-paced
slow-paced