Theories of population from Raleigh to Arthur Young : lectures delivered in the Galtonian laboratory, University of London, under the Newmarch foundation, February 11 to March 18, 1929, with two additional lectures and with references to authorities, / by James Bonar.

  • Bonar, James, 1852-1941.
Date:
1931
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Theories of population from Raleigh to Arthur Young : lectures delivered in the Galtonian laboratory, University of London, under the Newmarch foundation, February 11 to March 18, 1929, with two additional lectures and with references to authorities, / by James Bonar. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    large group, and multitudes above and below man —for example, to what my friend Edgeworth called 4'unprogressive communities”, bees and ants. T'is for one end, the good of man. We are going on the principle of Polonius: By indirections find directions out”, for man is meant to be benefited by our inquiries in the long run. In his Mathematical Statistics, lately edited by Professor Bowley, 1928, Edgeworth speaks of mathematical reasoning- applicable to physical phenomena quite as complex as human life” (p. 118). In common usage, of men that are careful enough not to identify statistics with mere numbers, statistics are numbers used with a purpose, figures ranged together with an end in view, if possible for some general conclusion, helping man whether evidently or not evidently; and, as large numbers are the best basis for the general conclusions, a study is eminently statistical that deals with such, and takes advantage of the known property of large numbers, warranting a probable result where small numbers warrant no general inference at all. As long as you are sure you are dealing with like units, the same kind of things, then numbers are strength”. How large must the numbers be in order to generate a general rule? We may not be able to define this lower limit exactly; we must often allow it to vary as our opportunities vary for getting hold of as many instances as we should like. Possibly our accom¬ plished friends who deal with cosmic figures of population are as much embarrassed sometimes