Statistical thinking in Norway in the nineteenth century

 

Einar Lie, "Statistical thinking in Norway in the nineteenth century", Scandinavian Economic History Review Volume 49,  Issue 1, 2001 pp.5-22.

 

Abstract

 

The article discusses statistical reasoning in Norway in the neneteenth century against the background of the contemporary development of statistics and social surveys in Europe. Perspectives from the recent literature are also used to identify some main turning points in the Norwegian development. The gradual break away from the German statistical tradition of the 1700s is analyzed with the writings of Anton Martin Schweigaard, professor and politician, as a starting point. The article emphasizes Eilert Sundt's (1818-1874) role in renewing statistical reasoning and practice in Norway in the 1850s and 1860s. Sundt combined qualitative studies of traditions and norms with enquiries into statistical regularities through the collection of large amounts of empirical information. His originality lies in the systematic integration of these two approaches as early as the 1850s, and his writings came to have a strong influence on Norwegian statistics in the late nineteenth century.