Ida Simone Russakoff Hoos (October 9, 1912 – April 24, 2007) was an American sociologist best known as a critic of

systems analysis Systems analysis is "the process of studying a procedure or business to identify its goal and purposes and create systems and procedures that will efficiently achieve them". Another view sees system analysis as a problem-solving technique that b ...

using mathematical formulae and disregarding social factors, especially when analyzing technology and public policy.Katie Hafner (2007)
Obituary for Ida R. Hoos
in: ''New York Times'', May 5, 2007

Biography

Born in

Skowhegan, Maine Skowhegan () is the county seat of Somerset County, Maine. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 8,620. Every August, Skowhegan hosts the annual Skowhegan State Fair, the oldest continuously-held state fair in the United States. Skowh ...

, where her Jewish parents had settled as jeweler after emigrating from Russia. She graduated from

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...

in 1933 and earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1942. While in graduate school, she founded Jewish Vocational Service in Boston to help

garment worker Clothing industry or garment industry summarizes the types of trade and industry along the production and value chain of clothing and garments, starting with the textile industry (producers of cotton, wool, fur, and synthetic fibre), embellishme ...

s. After earning her master's, she moved to

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

, where her husband took a job teaching economics at

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 ...

. She earned her

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

there in 1959 with the dissertation ''Automation in the Office: A Social Survey of Occupational and Organizational Changes'', published in book in 1961 as ''Automation in the Office''. Whilst a research sociologist at the University of California late 1960s she published a series of critiques of the systems approach to social policy Systems analysis in social policy, 1969 She criticised

for using mathematical formulae and disregarding social factors, especially when analyzing technology and public policy. She reminisced about her work's impact: "Technological advance was evident on every front. The 'dominant paradigm' embraced only the quantitative. What you could not count, did not count. The social and human aspects were systematically avoided in the rush to be 'scientific.'" Sullivan, Patricia (May 4, 2007). Ida R. Hoos; Researcher Criticized Use Of Technology to Analyze Social Issues. ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' She retired in 1982. Hoos died at

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

.Hafner, Katie (May 5, 2007). Ida R. Hoos Is Dead at 94; A Critic of Systems Analysis. ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

Publications

Books, a selection: * 1961. ''Automation in the Office''.

Public Affairs Press Public Affairs Press ( – mid-1980s) was a book publisher in Washington, D.C., owned and often edited by Morris Bartel Schnapper (1912–1999). History According to notional successor Peter Osnos of the 1997-founded PublicAffairs: For f ...

. * 1967. ''Retraining the Work Force''. University of California Press * 1972.
Systems Analysis in Public Policy: A Critique
'. Reprinted in 1976, 1983 Articles, papers, etc. a selection: * 1967. ''A Critique on the Application of Systems Analysis to Social Problems'' Paper Space Sciences Laboratory, Social Sciences Project, University of California * 1967. ''Systems Analysis in State Government''. Paper Space Sciences Laboratory, Social Sciences Project, University of California * 1967. ''Systems Analysis, Information Handling, and the Research Function: Implications of the California Experience''. Paper Space Sciences Laboratory, Social Sciences Project, University of California * 1968. ''A Critical Review of Systems Analysis: The California Experience''. Paper Space Sciences Laboratory, Social Sciences Project, University of California * 1968. ''Systems analysis and the technical writer's growing responsibility''. Paper Space Sciences Laboratory, Social Sciences Project * 1969. ''Systems analysis in social policy: a critical review''. Paper Institute of Economic Affairs

References

External links

Ida Russakoff Hoos profile
at UC Berkeley {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoos, Ida R. 1912 births 2007 deaths Radcliffe College alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni American sociologists Deaths from pneumonia in Massachusetts People from Skowhegan, Maine American women sociologists 20th-century American women 20th-century American people 21st-century American women