Morris H. Hansen: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
Rstat43 (talk | contribs)
Added section for Honors
 
(15 intermediate revisions by 16 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|American statistician (1910–1990}}
{{Infobox scientist
{{Infobox scientist
|name = Morris H. Hansen
| name = Morris H. Hansen
|image =
| image = MHH pic ASA.jpg
|image_size =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1910|12|15|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Thermopolis]], [[Wyoming]], U.S.
|caption =
|birth_date = {{birth date|1910|12|15|df=y}}
| death_date = {{death date|1990|10|09|df=y}}
|birth_place = [[Thermopolis]], [[Wyoming]] , [[USA]]
| death_place = [[Washington D.C.]], U.S.
|death_date =
| fields = [[Statistician]]
|death_place = [[Washington D.C.]], [[USA]]
| workplaces = {{Ubl | [[United States Census Bureau]] | [[Westat]]}}
| education = {{Ubl | [[University of Wyoming]] | [[American University]]}}
|residence =
|citizenship =
| known_for = Survey sampling theory
|nationality = American
|ethnicity =
|fields = [[Statistician]]
|workplaces = [[United States Census Bureau]]<br>[[Westat]]
|alma_mater = [[University of Wyoming]], [[American University]]
|doctoral_advisor =
|academic_advisors =
|doctoral_students =
|notable_students =
|known_for = Survey sampling theory
|author_abbrev_bot =
|author_abbrev_zoo =
|influences =
|influenced =
|awards =
|religion =
|signature =
|footnotes =
}}
}}


'''Morris Howard Hansen''' (1910-1990) was an American statistician. While at the [[United States Census Bureau]], he was one of the first to develop methods for [[Sampling (statistics)|statistical sampling]] and made contributions in many areas of surveys and censuses.
'''Morris Howard Hansen''' (1910–1990) was an American statistician. While at the [[United States Census Bureau]], he was one of the first to develop methods for [[Sampling (statistics)|statistical sampling]] and made contributions in many areas of surveys and censuses.


==Biography==
==Biography==


===Early life===
===Early life===
Hansen graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1934<ref name="censuspdf">http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/oh-hanse.pdf, 1983 Census interview</ref> and then moved to Washington, DC in search of a job. He ended up at the Census Bureau and taking classes. In 1940, he obtained a master's degree in statistics.
Hansen was born on December 15, 1910, in [[Thermopolis, Wyoming|Thermopolis]], [[Wyoming]] in the United States. The family lived in the nearby town of [[Worland, Wyoming]]. He graduated from the [[University of Wyoming]] in 1934 with a degree in accounting and then moved to Washington, DC in search of a job. He ended up at the Census Bureau and took classes at the Graduate School of the [[United States Department of Agriculture|U.S. Department of Agriculture]] and at [[American University]] where he took courses from [[W. Edwards Deming]] and [[Meyer Abraham Girshick]]. He received a master's degree in statistics in 1940 from [[American University]]. He was later granted an honorary doctorate by the University of Wyoming in recognition of his many contributions to survey research.


=== U.S. Census Bureau 1935–1968 ===
===Early professional years===
One Hansen’s earliest projects at the Census Bureau was a follow-up sample survey to check on the validity of a 1937 depression era voluntary census of the unemployed and partially unemployed. For the census, postal workers delivered a questionnaire to be filled out and returned. There were problems in getting complete and accurate response in the census. He helped design the sample and the statistical procedures to generate estimates of unemployment and estimates of the standard errors of the unemployment estimates, and to project sample estimates to smaller areas through regression relationships.  In the late 1930s and early 1940s the idea of using sample surveys for official governmental guidance, was quite new.  “Before that the Census Bureau had the idea that they couldn’t do sampling because that would discredit the results; they had to have complete coverage.”<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Olkin |first=Ingram |date=1987 |title=A Conversation with Morris Hansen |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2245666 |journal=Statistical Science |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=162–179 |jstor=2245666 |via=JSTOR}}</ref>
During his time at the Census Bureau, Hansen made contributions to the theory and practice of sampling, as well as to [[non-sampling error]]s. In 1947 he was elected as a [[Fellow of the American Statistical Association]].<ref>[http://www.amstat.org/awards/fellowslist.cfm View/Search Fellows of the ASA], accessed 2016-07-23.</ref> He also served as [[President of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics]] in 1953 and [[President of the American Statistical Association]] in 1960.

This experience encouraged the [[Works Progress Administration]] beginning in 1940 to sponsor the development of a monthly sample survey of households to provide estimates of employment and unemployment, later known as the [[Current Population Survey]].

His papers with William N. Hurwitz<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hansen, Hurwitz |first=M.H., W.N. |date=1942 |title=Relative efficiencies of various sampling units in population inquiries |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/01621459.1942.10500617 |journal=Journal of the American Statistical |volume=37 |issue=217 |pages=89–94 |doi=10.1080/01621459.1942.10500617 |via=tandfonline.com}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hansen |first1=Morris H. |last2=Hurwitz |first2=William N. |date=1943 |title=On the Theory of Sampling from Finite Populations |url=http://projecteuclid.org/euclid.aoms/1177731356 |journal=The Annals of Mathematical Statistics |language=en |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=333–362 |doi=10.1214/aoms/1177731356 |issn=0003-4851|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hansen |first1=Morris H. |last2=Hurwitz |first2=William N. |date=1949 |title=On the Determination of Optimum Probabilities in Sampling |url=http://projecteuclid.org/euclid.aoms/1177729994 |journal=The Annals of Mathematical Statistics |language=en |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=426–432 |doi=10.1214/aoms/1177729994 |issn=0003-4851|doi-access=free }}</ref>are viewed as foundational building blocks for later developments in design-based sampling theory. The developments in single-stage and multi-stage sampling culminated in the two volume set of books with Hurwitz and W.G. Madow on sampling theory<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hansen |first=Morris H. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/444466 |title=Sample survey methods and theory |date=1953 |publisher=Wiley |others=William N. Hurwitz, William G. Madow |isbn=0-471-00628-9 |location=New York |oclc=444466}}</ref> that are still regarded as a basic resources for practicing survey statisticians.


===Later years===
===Later years===
After retiring from the Census Bureau, Hansen joined [[Westat]], a private research firm in [[Rockville, Maryland|Rockville MD]] USA, as a vice president in 1968.  He was later elected chairman of the board of directors, a capacity in which he served until 1990. With his long-time colleague, Benjamin J. Tepping, Hansen designed innovative multistage procedures for selecting establishments and goods to price within establishments in the CPI. The [[Bureau of Labor Statistics|US Bureau of Labor Statistics]] adopted the new methods and later extended them to the [[Producer price index|Producer Price Index]] and the International Trade Price Index.
After retiring from the Census Bureau, Hansen worked at [[Westat]].<ref name="nytimes">http://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/12/obituaries/morris-h-hansen-79-census-statistician.html, New York Times Obituary</ref>

In 1983, while at Westat, he, Tepping, and Madow published an important contribution to an ongoing controversy among researchers in sampling theory and estimation on the role of models in making inferences from survey data.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hansen |first1=Morris H. |last2=Madow |first2=William G. |last3=Tepping |first3=Benjamin J. |date=1983 |title=An Evaluation of Model-Dependent and Probability-Sampling Inferences in Sample Surveys |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2288182 |journal=Journal of the American Statistical Association |volume=78 |issue=384 |pages=776–793 |doi=10.2307/2288182 |jstor=2288182 |issn=0162-1459}}</ref>

== Honors ==
In 1947 he was elected as a [[Fellow of the American Statistical Association]].<ref>[http://www.amstat.org/awards/fellowslist.cfm View/Search Fellows of the ASA], accessed 2016-07-23.</ref> He also served as [[President of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics]] in 1953 and [[President of the American Statistical Association]] in 1960. His reminiscences on survey sampling can be viewed on [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY1Nq2rCQDg the American Statistical Association Amstat Videos page.] He died in 1990 at the age of 79 in Washington DC.


==See also==
==See also==
Line 47: Line 39:


==Notes==
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
<references/>


== References ==
== References ==
* [[Statistical Science]], Vol. 2, No. 2 (May, 1987), pp.&nbsp;162–179
* [[Ingram Olkin|Olkin, I.]] (1987). A Conversation with Morris Hansen. [[Statistical Science]], Vol. 2, No. 2 (May, 1987), pp.&nbsp;162–179
* Hansen, MH, Hurwitz, WN, and Madow, WG, Sample Survey Methods and Theory, Volume I New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1953.
* Hansen, MH and Hurwitz, WN (1942). Relative efficiencies of various sampling units in population inquiries. [[Journal of the American Statistical Association]], 37, 89-94.
* Hansen, MH, Hurwitz, WN, and Madow, WG, Sample Survey Methods and Theory, Volume II New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1953.
* Hansen, MH and Hurwitz, WN (1943). On the theory of sampling from finite populations. [[Annals of Mathematical Statistics]], 41, 517-529.
* Hansen, MH and Hurwitz, WN (1949). On the determination of optimum probabilities in sampling. [[Annals of Mathematical Statistics]], 20, 426-432.
* Hansen, MH, Hurwitz, WN, and Madow, WG, (1953). Sample Survey Methods and Theory, Volume I New York: [[Wiley (publisher)|John Wiley and Sons, Inc]].
* Hansen, MH, Hurwitz, WN, and Madow, WG, (1953). Sample Survey Methods and Theory, Volume II New York: [[Wiley (publisher)|John Wiley and Sons, Inc.]]
* Hansen, MH, Madow, WG, and Tepping, BJ (1983). An Evaluation of Model-Dependent and Probability Sampling Inferences in Sample Surveys. [[Journal of the American Statistical Association]], 78, 776-793.


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://magazine.amstat.org/2009/09/morrishansensep09/ Article from Amstat News]
* [http://magazine.amstat.org/2009/09/morrishansensep09/ Article from Amstat News]
*[http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/hansen-morris-h.pdf National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir]
*[http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/hansen-morris-h.pdf Joseph Waksberg and Edwin D. Goldfield, "Morris Howard Hansen", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (1996)]


{{American Statistical Association Presidents}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


Line 67: Line 64:
[[Category:1910 births]]
[[Category:1910 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century mathematicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American mathematicians]]
[[Category:People from Thermopolis, Wyoming]]

Latest revision as of 16:35, 16 March 2024

Morris H. Hansen
Born(1910-12-15)15 December 1910
Died(1990-10-09)9 October 1990
Education
Known forSurvey sampling theory
Scientific career
FieldsStatistician
Institutions

Morris Howard Hansen (1910–1990) was an American statistician. While at the United States Census Bureau, he was one of the first to develop methods for statistical sampling and made contributions in many areas of surveys and censuses.

Biography[edit]

Early life[edit]

Hansen was born on December 15, 1910, in Thermopolis, Wyoming in the United States. The family lived in the nearby town of Worland, Wyoming. He graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1934 with a degree in accounting and then moved to Washington, DC in search of a job. He ended up at the Census Bureau and took classes at the Graduate School of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and at American University where he took courses from W. Edwards Deming and Meyer Abraham Girshick. He received a master's degree in statistics in 1940 from American University. He was later granted an honorary doctorate by the University of Wyoming in recognition of his many contributions to survey research.

U.S. Census Bureau 1935–1968[edit]

One Hansen’s earliest projects at the Census Bureau was a follow-up sample survey to check on the validity of a 1937 depression era voluntary census of the unemployed and partially unemployed. For the census, postal workers delivered a questionnaire to be filled out and returned. There were problems in getting complete and accurate response in the census. He helped design the sample and the statistical procedures to generate estimates of unemployment and estimates of the standard errors of the unemployment estimates, and to project sample estimates to smaller areas through regression relationships.  In the late 1930s and early 1940s the idea of using sample surveys for official governmental guidance, was quite new.  “Before that the Census Bureau had the idea that they couldn’t do sampling because that would discredit the results; they had to have complete coverage.”[1]

This experience encouraged the Works Progress Administration beginning in 1940 to sponsor the development of a monthly sample survey of households to provide estimates of employment and unemployment, later known as the Current Population Survey.

His papers with William N. Hurwitz[2] [3][4]are viewed as foundational building blocks for later developments in design-based sampling theory. The developments in single-stage and multi-stage sampling culminated in the two volume set of books with Hurwitz and W.G. Madow on sampling theory[5] that are still regarded as a basic resources for practicing survey statisticians.

Later years[edit]

After retiring from the Census Bureau, Hansen joined Westat, a private research firm in Rockville MD USA, as a vice president in 1968.  He was later elected chairman of the board of directors, a capacity in which he served until 1990. With his long-time colleague, Benjamin J. Tepping, Hansen designed innovative multistage procedures for selecting establishments and goods to price within establishments in the CPI. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics adopted the new methods and later extended them to the Producer Price Index and the International Trade Price Index.

In 1983, while at Westat, he, Tepping, and Madow published an important contribution to an ongoing controversy among researchers in sampling theory and estimation on the role of models in making inferences from survey data.[6]

Honors[edit]

In 1947 he was elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.[7] He also served as President of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics in 1953 and President of the American Statistical Association in 1960. His reminiscences on survey sampling can be viewed on the American Statistical Association Amstat Videos page. He died in 1990 at the age of 79 in Washington DC.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Olkin, Ingram (1987). "A Conversation with Morris Hansen". Statistical Science. 2 (2): 162–179. JSTOR 2245666 – via JSTOR.
  2. ^ Hansen, Hurwitz, M.H., W.N. (1942). "Relative efficiencies of various sampling units in population inquiries". Journal of the American Statistical. 37 (217): 89–94. doi:10.1080/01621459.1942.10500617 – via tandfonline.com.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Hansen, Morris H.; Hurwitz, William N. (1943). "On the Theory of Sampling from Finite Populations". The Annals of Mathematical Statistics. 14 (4): 333–362. doi:10.1214/aoms/1177731356. ISSN 0003-4851.
  4. ^ Hansen, Morris H.; Hurwitz, William N. (1949). "On the Determination of Optimum Probabilities in Sampling". The Annals of Mathematical Statistics. 20 (3): 426–432. doi:10.1214/aoms/1177729994. ISSN 0003-4851.
  5. ^ Hansen, Morris H. (1953). Sample survey methods and theory. William N. Hurwitz, William G. Madow. New York: Wiley. ISBN 0-471-00628-9. OCLC 444466.
  6. ^ Hansen, Morris H.; Madow, William G.; Tepping, Benjamin J. (1983). "An Evaluation of Model-Dependent and Probability-Sampling Inferences in Sample Surveys". Journal of the American Statistical Association. 78 (384): 776–793. doi:10.2307/2288182. ISSN 0162-1459. JSTOR 2288182.
  7. ^ View/Search Fellows of the ASA, accessed 2016-07-23.

References[edit]

External links[edit]