Making Comparisons Count

This book attempts to answer two questions: Are alternatives for choice ever incomparable? and In what ways can items be compared? The arguments offered suggest that alternatives for choice no matter how different are never incomparable, and that the ways in which items can be compared are richer and more varied than commonly supposed.

This edited collection illuminates the weaknesses and strengths of crime reporting across a wide range of countries, with a focus on democratic countries in which the police bear some accountability to citizens. In one compendium, for the first time, this book documents how different countries record (or fail to record) crimes. With chapters written by native authors who are experts on the practices of their respective countries, the book explores practices in 15 different countries across the globe. Organized with a parallel, country-by-country approach, the book describes and analyzes methods police use to record crimes, with the awareness that the counting of crimes is not only an issue of empirical measurement, but also one of social construction. Crime reporting practices vary widely by country. In some cases, reports are not taken, and in others, reports are carefully based on preliminary investigations. Willful manipulation of crime reports can and does occur, and the book explores related factors such as political pressure, personal ambition, community safety, and more. Discussion questions at the end of each chapter help the reader evaluate the significant issues influencing each country. The editors conclude by suggesting best practices for crime reporting and the collection of crime data. A unique addition to this book is a foreword by Tofiq Murshudlu, the Head of Drugs and Crime for the United Nations in Vienna. The book is intended for a wide range of audiences, including policing scholars, law enforcement and community leaders, and students of criminal justice.

If values conflict and rival human interests clash we often have to weigh them against each other. However, under particular conditions incommensurability prevents the assignment of determinable and impartial weights. In those cases an objective balance does not exist. The original thesis of this book sheds new light on aspects of incommensurability and its implications for public decision-making, ethics and justice. Martijn Boot analyzes a number of previously ignored or unrecognized concepts, such as ‘incomplete comparability’, ‘incompletely justified choice’, ‘indeterminateness’ and ‘ethical deficit’ – concepts that are essential for comprehending problems of incommensurability. Apart from problematic implications, incommensurability has also favourable consequences. It creates room for autonomous rational choices that are not dictated by reason. Besides, insight into incommensurability promotes recognition of different possible rankings of universally valid but sometimes conflicting human values. This book avoids unnecessary technical language and is accessible not only for specialists but for a large audience of philosophers, ethicists, political theorists, economists, lawyers and interested persons without specialized knowledge.

Comparing is one of the most essential practices, in our everyday life as well as in science and humanities. In this in-depth philosophical analysis of the structure, practice and ethics of comparative procedures, Hartmut von Sass expands on the significance of comparison. Elucidating the ramified structure of comparing, von Sass suggests a typology of comparisons before introducing the notion of comparative injustice and the limits of comparisons. He elaborates on comparing as practice by relating comparing to three relative practices – orienting, describing, and expressing oneself – to unfold some of the most important chapters of what might be called comparativism. This approach allows von Sass to clarify the idea of the incomparable, distinguish between different versions of incomparability and shed light on important ethical aspects of comparisons today. Confronting the claim that we are living in an age of comparisons, his book is an important contribution to ideas surrounding all-encompassing measurements and scalability and their critique.

Practices of comparing shape how we perceive, organize, and change the world. Supposedly innocent, practices of comparing play a decisive role in forming categories, boundaries, and hierarchies; but they can also give an impetus to question and change such structures. Like almost no other human practice, comparing pervades all social, political, economic, and cultural spheres. This volume outlines the program of a new research agenda that places comparative practices at the center of an interdisciplinary exploration. Its contributions combine case studies with overarching systematic considerations. They show what insights can be gained and which further questions arise when one makes a seemingly trivial practice - comparing - the subject of in-depth research.

Most literature thinks of the relationship between data and society as additive, meaning that data and society are seen as two separate sets of things but which overlap to form an intersection. The literature then goes off to unpack the intersection of the two circles and partners the term data in this manner with terms descriptive of the domain of society — ownership, control, surveillance, and privacy, to name but a few.Within this book, we want to promote an alternative viewpoint of the relationship between data and society. Rather than explaining how data fits with or contributes to some burning societal issues, we want to explain how data is constitutive of many such issues. The term constitutive is used here in the sense of data having power to institute, establish, or enact society.Our viewpoint means that if you are to properly understand the constitutive nature of data, you must start from first principles and closely examine the nature of data itself. You must also focus on the mechanics of data — how data is represented and articulated in records or more generally in data structures.Our aim in doing this is to examine the place of data structures across cultures and societies. In doing so, we hope to better understand why we, as humans, make records. In doing this, we can also better understand some of the unintended consequences of the use of records, which particularly plague us in the modern world.

The third edition of Reys’ Helping Children Learn Mathematics is a practical resource for undergraduate students of primary school teaching. Rich in ideas, tools and stimulation for lessons during teaching rounds or in the classroom, this edition continues to provide a clear understanding of how to navigate the Australian Curriculum, with detailed coverage on how to effectively use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the classroom. This is a full colour printed textbook with an interactive eBook code included. Great self-study features include: auto-graded in-situ knowledge check questions, video of teachers demonstrating how different maths topics can be taught in the classroom and animated, branched chain scenarios are in the e-text.

This Second Edition covers the mathematics needed to teach the Early Learning Goals. It has been up-dated to include new research findings as well as new topics, for example, using number lines with young children. The topics of counting, number (including early addition and subtraction), pattern, measures and shape and space are covered in detail. Each chapter contains suggestions for key questions to ask in order to encourage children to discuss their mathematics and to demonstrate what they know and understand. There are sections on developing problem-solving skills, working with parents and other adults in the nursery setting, as well as detailed charts giving ideas for activities and how to assess learning, and some activities planned in full. The final chapter gives detailed help with planning and assessment of mathematics. The book is intended for anyone working with children in the early years: teachers, nursery nurses, classroom assistants, playgroup leaders and workers, child-minders and day care staff. It is particularly suitable as a course text for those training to be teachers, either through the undergraduate route, or through a PGCE, and for those studying for early childhood degrees or diplomas.