Big fat liars : how politicians, corporations, and the media use science and statistics to manipulate the public

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Title:

Author:

Chafetz, Morris E.

ISBN:

9781595550088

Personal Author:

Chafetz, Morris E.

Publication Information:

Nashville, Tenn. : Nelson Current, c2005.

Physical Description:

xv, 334 p. ; 24 cm.

Contents:

The danger of generalization -- It's all point of view -- I'm okay and if you were like me, you would be okay, too -- Playing god as an institutional right -- The new gods don't know either -- The environmental mess -- Global warming : more heat than light -- Behavior as disease -- Alcohol and alcoholism -- Mushrooms and the misuse of the public health model -- Doctors always get it right, right? -- Correlation as causation -- Bad science and tobacco -- Addiction -- Obesity -- Revolt against the machines -- The attack on business -- Terrorism and other worries -- The money factor -- The assault on personal responsibility -- Dealing with guilt -- Refusing to sell your soul -- The only expert on you is you.

Subject Term:

Knowledge, Sociology of.

Expertise -- Social aspects.

Self-esteem.

Electronic Access:

Table of contents only http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0510/2005008696.html
Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0622/2005008696-d.html

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168020373003	306.42 C433B 2005	1	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

These days, you can't turn on a television without hearing that you're probably fat, engaged in unhealthy behavior, failing to get sufficient exercise, destroying the environment through the use of practically every product that makes your life more convenient, and likely to fall victim to just about everything and everyone around you. But not only are the statistics that prove these points based on false information, much of our national dialogue is dictated by this patently bad science-encouraged solely by public and private organizations that leverage these demonstrably untrue facts to bolster their own philosophies and fatten their own pocketbooks. With mounds of solid evidence that contradicts common thought, Morris Chafetz shows the lies behind the facts about today's big issues (for instance, the "obesity epidemic" we hear so much about is the result not of a fatter population but instead a change in bookkeeping in a federal agency, and the evidence used now to frighten us about "global warming" was used a generation ago to frighten us about "global cooling") and encourages readers to look through the money-motivated facade of statistics and government controls and return to a strong attitude of personal responsibility.