McMaster University

Graduate Program in Statistics



STATISTICS SEMINAR



SPEAKER:
David R. Bellhouse
Department of Statistical and Actuarial Sciences
University of Western Ontario
Date :Wednesday December 11, 2003.
Time : 3:30pm
Address General Science Building
Room: 218
Please note the change of room for this talk
TITLE:
Stillbirth of a Canadian Statistical Society in 19th Century Canada
ABSTRACT:
In the 1850s and 60s there were some moves in Canada to form a statistical society along the lines of the Statistical Society of London (now the Royal Statistical Society) or other similar statistical societies in operation at the time. Some success was achieved by Philip Pearsall Carpenter who was responsible for the formation of the Montreal Sanitary Association in 1867. The Association was initiated through Carpenter's collection and comparison of mortality data that showed Montreal as having a very high mortality rate when compared to other parts of Canada, the U.S. and Britain. Carpenter blamed the high death rate on poor sanitation in Montreal. The purpose of the Association was to collect statistics related to the sanitation of Montreal and to press for sanitary reform in that city. A clerk in a Montreal insurance company, Andrew Watt argued vehemently that Carpenter's data and conclusions were highly suspect. A war of words ensued in the press and eventually many came to accept Watt's position. The Montreal Sanitary Association fell apart as a statistical society but was reconstituted as a group whose sole purpose was to press politically for sanitary reform in Montreal. The talk will illustrate some of the relationships between statistics and the press and between statistics and politics, as well as the public's general understanding of statistical arguments.

This work has been done jointly with Christian Genest of Université Laval.

About the Speaker


Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Graduate Program in Statistics

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Last updated on Dedcember 4, 2002