Limits of the Numerical 2015-18
With Stephen John
This project explores one of the most pressing sets of questions for modern social science and its relation to policy. What are the effects on a system of social policy when numerical quantification and evaluation is introduced into that system? How does the use of numerical evaluation exclude, trivialize or distort other systems of political, moral and social evaluation? What are the political and moral consequences of this shift towards numerical evaluation? These questions are addressed with respect to three distinct strands of social policy — education, climate change and healthcare — three areas where social science, policy and the gritty world of politics interact with intense urgency.
More informationResearch outcomes
Limits of the Numerical: The Abuses and Uses of Quantification. University of Chicago Press.
Areas of interest
Cohort
Biography
Biographical details correct as of 11.03.25