The Lonely American, by Jacqueline Olds and Richard Schwartz

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In The Lonely American, by Jacqueline Olds and Richard Schwartz, many sources are used to reinforce the main points of the book. In chapter two, “Frantic Without a Peep”, the authors use many sources to better back their ideas; in particular they paraphrased statistics from The Overworked American by Juliet Schor. Upon further review, although Olds and Schwartz cited the statistics correctly, they did not present them in the context they were originally given. Olds and Schwartz, moderately manipulated Schors research to ensure the findings fitted their points more accurately.

In Schors book she states that the statistics presented are her estimates and calculations. Oddly in The Lonely American they are said to be “government statistics” rather than a compilation of government statistics and personal research. The fact that Olds and Schwartz do this causes their own research to be discredited. When the authors present the information in the following way:

In 1992, the economist Juliet Schor published a book that sparked a vigorous and ongoing debate. In The Overworked American...

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