The Averaged American: Surveys, Citizens, and the Making of a Mass Public

Front Cover
Harvard University Press, Jun 30, 2009 - History - 408 pages
supports the death penalty, that half of all marriages end in divorce, and that four out of five prefer a particular brand of toothpaste. But remarkably, such data--now woven into our social fabric--became common currency only in the last century. With a bold and sophisticated analysis, Sarah Igo demonstrates the power of scientific surveys to shape Americans' sense of themselves as individuals, members of communities, and citizens of a nation.
 

Contents

1 Canvassing a Typical Community
23
2 Middletown Becomes Everytown
68
3 Polling the Average Populace
103
4 The Majority Talks Back
150
5 Surveying Normal Selves
234
Statistical Citizens
281
Notes
301
Acknowledgments
379
Index
386
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