Joel Gordon Best (born August 21, 1946) is a professor of sociology and criminal justice at the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 ma ...

. He specializes in topics such as social problems and deviance. His current research focuses on awards, prizes, and honors in American culture. He is an author of over ten books and dozens of academic articles. Joel Best earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in sociology from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in 1971. He also earned a second M.A. degree in history from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

. He taught at Concordia College (Moorhead, MN--1969-70),

California State University, Fresno California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

(1970-91), and

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Southern Illinois University (SIU or SIUC) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois. Founded in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. The university enrolls students from all 50 st ...

(1991–99). He served as a President of the

Midwest Sociological Society The Midwest Sociological Society (MSS) is a "… membership organization of academic and applied sociologists as well as students of the discipline." The society was founded in 1936 and held its first annual meeting in 1937. In 2011–12 its mem ...

and the

Society for the Study of Social Problems The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) is an organization founded in 1951 in counterpoint to the American Sociological Association. History The Society was founded in 1951 by Elizabeth Briant Lee and Alfred McClung Lee. Profes ...

, and was an editor of the journal ''

Social Problems A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society and ones that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's cont ...

''. When asked about his prolific output, Best responded, “If you write a page per day, or every few days, you will have a book by the end of the year.”Adam Szetela
"How to Write (And Publish) Like a Pro,"
'Inside Higher Education'', Sep. 30, 2017 He recently was seen as a source cast member on the critically acclaimed show ''

Adam Ruins Everything ''Adam Ruins Everything'' is an American educational comedy television series starring Adam Conover that ran from 2015 through 2019 on TruTV. The series endeavors to debunk common misconceptions held by the public on a variety of topics. Premise ...

''. Best provided evidence supporting the fact that strangers, contrary to popular belief, do not (with a single rare exception of an estranged father-son situation) and have never tampered with or poisoned the candy given to a trick-or-treater as far as records can provide.

Selected publications

*Joel Best, Threatened Children (1990); University of Chicago Press * Joel Best, (ed. with James T. Richardson and David G. Bromley) ''The Satanism Scare'', New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1991, *Joel Best, (ed.) Images of Issues (2/e--1995); Aldine de Gruyter *Joel Best, Controlling Vice (1998); Ohio State University Press *Joel Best, Random Violence (1999); University of California Press *Joel Best, Damned Lies and Statistics ( 2001); University of California Press *Joel Best, (ed.) How Claims Spread ( 2001); Aldine de Gruyter *Joel Best, Deviance: Career of a Concept (2004); Wadsworth *Joel Best, More Damned Lies and Statistics (2004); University of California Press. *Joel Best, Flavor of the Month: Why Smart People Fall for Fads (2006); University of California Press. *Joel Best, Stat-Spotting: A Field Guide to Identifying Dubious Data (2008); University of California Press *Joel Best, Everyone's a Winner: Life in Our Congratulatory Culture (2011); University of California Press *Joel Best, The Stupidity Epidemic: Worrying about Students, Schools, and America's Future (2011); Routledge *Joel Best, Social Problems (2/e--2013); Norton

References

External links

Personal homepage
1946 births Living people University of Delaware faculty American sociologists UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni Academic journal editors {{US-sociologist-stub