Nancy A. Mathiowetz is an American sociologist and

statistician A statistician is a person who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, and statisticians may wor ...

, known for her pioneering combination of

cognitive psychology Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and reasoning. Cognitive psychology originated in the 1960s in a break from behaviorism, which ...

with

survey methodology Survey methodology is "the study of survey methods". As a field of applied statistics concentrating on human-research surveys, survey methodology studies the sampling of individual units from a population and associated techniques of survey da ...

and for her research on

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

and

disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, dev ...

. She is a professor emerita of sociology at the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscons ...

, the former president of the

American Association for Public Opinion Research The American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) is a professional organization of more than 2,000 public opinion and survey research professionals in the United States and from around the world, with members from academia, media, gover ...

, and the former editor-in-chief of ''

Public Opinion Quarterly ''Public Opinion Quarterly'' is an academic journal published by Oxford University Press for the American Association for Public Opinion Research, covering communication studies and political science. It was established in 1937 and according to th ...

Education

Mathiowetz did her undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, graduating in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in sociology. She went on to graduate study at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, completing a master's degree in biostatistics in 1983 and a Ph.D. in sociology in 1988. Her dissertation was ''The Applicability of Cognitive Theory to Long-Term Recall Questions in Social Surveys''.

Career

While completing her graduate education, Mathiowetz had become a professional statistician, joining

Westat Westat is an employee-owned professional services corporation located in Rockville, Maryland, USA. It provides research services to agencies of the U.S. Government, as well as businesses, foundations, and state and local governments. The corpo ...

as a researcher in 1984. She moved to the

National Center for Health Services Research The National Center for Health Services Research was a United States government program tasked with conducting research into health services. It was established on July 23, 1974. It was transferred from the Heath Resources Administration to the De ...

in 1987, and again to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

in 1990. At the census, she worked under

Robert Groves Robert Martin Groves (born September 27, 1948) is an American sociologist and expert in survey methodology who has served as the Provost of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. since August 2012. He also served as the Director of the Unit ...

, at that time the census's Associate Director for Statistical Design, Methodology and Standards. From 1992 to 1995 she was deputy director of statistics and research methodology at the

Agency for Health Care Policy and Research The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ; pronounced "ark" by initiates and often "A-H-R-Q" by the public) is one of twelve agencies within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The agency is headquartered i ...

within the

Public Health Service In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

. In 1995, Mathiowetz returned to academia as an assistant professor in the

Joint Program in Survey Methodology The Joint Program in Survey Methodology was established at the University of Maryland, College Park in 1993, a collaboration between that University, the University of Michigan, and Westat. Today JPSM offers coursework on-site and online, offering ...

at the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

, where she had already held an adjunct position since 1993. She moved to the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, as an associate professor of sociology in 2003, was promoted to full professor in 2005, and chaired the department from 2005 to 2009. She served as the 2007-2008 president of the

. With

James N. Druckman James N. Druckman (born 26 June 1971) is an American political scientist. Druckman earned a bachelor's degree at Northwestern University in 1993, followed by a doctorate from the University of California, San Diego in 1999. He was an assistant prof ...

, she was co-editor-in-chief of ''

'' for four volumes, from 2008 to 2012.

Recognition

In 2012 Mathiowetz was elected as a

Fellow of the American Statistical Association Like many other academic professional societies, the American Statistical Association (ASA) uses the title of Fellow of the American Statistical Association as its highest honorary grade of membership. The number of new fellows per year is limited ...

. The American Association for Public Opinion Research gave her their Award for Exceptionally Distinguished Achievement in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathiowetz, Nancy A. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American sociologists American statisticians American women sociologists Women statisticians University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni University of Michigan alumni University of Maryland, College Park faculty University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee faculty Fellows of the American Statistical Association 21st-century American women