James A Davis (1929 - 2016)
[New page 6 November 2017: transferred 16 Dec 2019]
Jim Davis, founder of the NORC General Social Survey, pioneer of quantitative methods in sociology, author of Elementary Survey Analysis, died on 29 September 2016.
From 1970 to 1973 he led the SSRC Survey Unit Summer Schools in Survey Methods and worked closely with Jim Ring and Cathie Marsh developing the ideas behind path analysis. Jim Ring actually found a mathematical error in the book!
At PNL we worked with him on an SSRC funded project to develop IPA, an interactive computer program compatible with SPSS. (See: Hall and Ring 1977 Development of a Path Analysis Program Compatible with Interactive SPSS)
See the following obituaries and notices from:
Dept of Sociology, Harvard
Tribute from Mary Waters, Chair, Sociology Department, Chicago
Division of Social Sciences, Chicago
Obituary | American Sociological Association
World Association for Public Opinion Research
In the Master’s Series on Field Research on Youtube there is also a long Interview with Professor James A. Davis in which he he talks about his research and work with survey techniques. He describes the differences between laboratory research and field research, the potential for bias from unforeseen factors in field research, and the need for objective, standard methods of interviewing individuals. He goes on to discuss the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), the three main approaches to collecting survey data, survey ethics, techniques needed to create a reliable survey, and sampling procedures. Finally, he is asked what he finds most stimulating and fulfilling about his research
From 1970 to 1973 he led the SSRC Survey Unit Summer Schools in Survey Methods and worked closely with Jim Ring and Cathie Marsh developing the ideas behind path analysis. Jim Ring actually found a mathematical error in the book!
At PNL we worked with him on an SSRC funded project to develop IPA, an interactive computer program compatible with SPSS. (See: Hall and Ring 1977 Development of a Path Analysis Program Compatible with Interactive SPSS)
See the following obituaries and notices from:
Dept of Sociology, Harvard
Tribute from Mary Waters, Chair, Sociology Department, Chicago
Division of Social Sciences, Chicago
Obituary | American Sociological Association
World Association for Public Opinion Research
In the Master’s Series on Field Research on Youtube there is also a long Interview with Professor James A. Davis in which he he talks about his research and work with survey techniques. He describes the differences between laboratory research and field research, the potential for bias from unforeseen factors in field research, and the need for objective, standard methods of interviewing individuals. He goes on to discuss the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), the three main approaches to collecting survey data, survey ethics, techniques needed to create a reliable survey, and sampling procedures. Finally, he is asked what he finds most stimulating and fulfilling about his research