Social Consciousness |Get Solution

Joel Best argues conflicts over how to measure public problems, i.e. “Stat Wars”, are common because the way a problem is defined and measured has consequences for how big a problem appears to be (and thus its importance) and for the types of policies a community should adopt to address it. This makes the process of measuring a public problem not just a technical process, but a political one. Yet he also argues that despite its flaws, statistical measures of public problems can and should play an important role in informing the policymaking process. To what extent would you say that statistical indicators of problems like poverty and homelessness make a positive contribution to the policymaking process, i.e. by guiding policymakers towards policies that solve problems and serve the public interest?What steps could be taken to make the public more conscious of the value and limitations of statistical data?Prepare your response in a memo of at least 500 words (two pages, double spaced).