| The thesis of this study is that statistical products are contingent upon the social relations of their production, reflecting in their constitution both the technical core of statistics (experimental design, probability theory, and the like) and the organizational settings in which they are produced. This social/technical relation is explored theoretically through (1) the theory of official statistics, (2) critical theory, and (3) the theory of statistics as argument.;In applied social statistics, practical problems which are not a part of a scientific worldview appear at the heart of the research process. Quantitative research oriented toward useful results, inter-subjectivity, and the goal of truth requires recognition of such problems as a concern of method. It is suggested that critical theory and dialectical organizational theory offer promising insights for this task, which is oriented toward a dialectical applied social statistics.;Four participant observation laboratory studies illustrate how the interactions of organizational context (particularly as derivative from organizational policy commitments to practical goals) can create tension for applied statisticians as a partially autonomous but diverse professional group with its own commitments to technical standards. A fifth study suggests how the problem of organizational "worldviews" may be turned to a productive resource in interorganizationally sponsored research using a consensus process. |
