Anecdotal indicators distort assessments of prejudice trends over time and space

Evidence

It may not be possible to develop a meaningful aggregate index of … Islamophobia given the currently available data, and there are some purposes for which attempting to do so would be pointless. But it is vital to move beyond using indirect, anecdotal, or conflating indicators as evidence of contemporary Islamophobia. Once we have a common conceptual language and more consistent tools for measuring Islamophobia, we can more accurately assess its trends over time, its variation over space or social groups, and its intensity relative to negative attitudes and emotions aimed at other status minority groups. — Erik Bleich, Defining and Researching Islamophobia, 82

Categorization

• SEED: Could anchor an essay on why single-number indexes of bigotry mislead — arguing for a dashboard of indicators instead of one aggregate score.