The 23rd Census of the United States, Official Statistics, and the Academic Discipline of Statistics
Robert Groves
Thursday, 03 Feb 2011 at 7:30 pm – Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorium, Howe Hall
Robert M. Groves is the director of the United States Census Bureau. He will discuss the census operation and how the bureau issues official government statistics as well as how these processes differ from traditional survey statistics. Groves was previously a professor and the director of the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan and a research professor at the Joint Program in Survey Methodology at the University of Maryland. He also served as the Census Bureau's Associate Director for Statistical Design, Methodology and Standards. His many influential publications include Survey Errors and Survey Costs and Nonresponse in Household Interview Surveys. The Wayne A. Fuller Lecture.President Barack Obama nominated Robert M. Groves for director of the U.S. Census Bureau on April 2, 2009, and the Senate confirmed him on July 13, 2009. He began his tenure as director on July 15, 2009.
Groves had been a professor at the University of Michigan and director of its Survey Research Center, as well as research professor at the Joint Program in Survey Methodology at the University of Maryland. He was the Census Bureau's Associate Director for Statistical Design, Methodology and Standards from 1990 to 1992, on loan from the University of Michigan.
Groves has authored or co-authored seven books and scores of scientific articles. His 1989 book, Survey Errors and Survey Costs, was named one of the 50 most influential books in survey research by the American Association of Public Opinion Research. His book, Nonresponse in Household Interview Surveys, with Mick Couper, written during his time at the Census Bureau, received the 2008 AAPOR Book Award.
He is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Statistical Association, and the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research. He is an elected member of the International Statistical Institute and a National Associate of the National Research Council, US National Academy of Sciences.
He is the recipient of the Innovator Award and the distinguished achievement award of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, the O'Neill Award of the New York Association for Public Opinion Research, the Helen Dinerman Award of the World Association for Public Opinion Research, and Julius Shiskin Memorial Award of the National Association of Business Economics and the American Statistical Association, in recognition of contributions in the development of economic statistics.
Groves has a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College and master's degrees in statistics and sociology from the University of Michigan. He also earned his doctorate at Michigan.
Cosponsored By:
- Statistics
- Committee on Lectures (funded by Student Government)
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