Ida Irene Hess (August 27, 1910 – July 5, 2009) was an American statistician who was an expert on

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 d ...

for scientific surveys and who directed the

University of Michigan Institute for Social Research The Institute for Social Research (ISR) is the largest academic social research and survey organization in the world, established in 1949. ISR includes more than 300 scientists from a variety of academic disciplines – including political scien ...

Life

Hess was born on August 27, 1910, in

Muhlenberg County, Kentucky Muhlenberg County () is a county in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,928. Its county seat is Greenville and its largest city is Central City. History Muhlenberg County was formed in 1798 from ...

, the daughter of a Central City

mining engineer Mining engineering is the extraction of minerals from the ground. It is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, metallurgy, geotechnical engineering and surveying. A mining engineer m ...

. After three years of study at Evansville College, she completed her undergraduate studies in mathematics at

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

, graduating in 1931, and returned home to become a mathematics teacher at a junior high school in Central City. Beginning in 1940, she used the time in her summers off from teaching to study statistics at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. Although she earned no degree from this study, her work there provided her with enough statistical experience to pass the

civil service entrance examination Civil service examinations are examinations implemented in various countries for recruitment and admission to the civil service. They are intended as a method to achieve an effective, rational public administration on a merit system for recruit ...

, preparing her for wartime service in the U.S.

Bureau of Labor Statistics The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a unit of the United States Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the government of the United States, U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics, labor economics and ...

and the

Bureau of Standards A standards organization, standards body, standards developing organization (SDO), or standards setting organization (SSO) is an organization whose primary function is developing, coordinating, promulgating, revising, amending, reissuing, interpr ...

, where she helped work on bomb fuses. After the war, she moved again, to the

Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

. She joined the Institute for Social Research in 1954, and later became its director when its founding director,

Leslie Kish Leslie Kish (born László Kiss, July 27, 1910 – October 7, 2000) was a Hungarian- American statistician and survey methodologist.. Reprint of an obituary from '' International Statistical Institute (ISI) Newsletter'', Volume 25, No. 73. Lif ...

, stepped down. She faced mandatory retirement at age 70, in 1981, but continued to be active in statistics and in the institute. In 1977, she became the founding chair of the Section on Survey Research Methods of the

American Statistical Association The American Statistical Association (ASA) is the main professional organization for statisticians and related professionals in the United States. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 27, 1839, and is the second-oldest continuous ...

. She died on July 5, 2009.

Selected publications

Along with many papers with Leslie Kish, Hess is the author or co-author of: *''Probability Sampling of Hospitals and Patients'' (with Donald C. Reidel, and Thomas Fitzpatrick, 1961) *''Sampling for Social Research Surveys'' (1995) *''Controlled Selection Continued'' (with Steven G. Heeringa, 2002) *''The Practice of Survey Research at the Survey Research Center, 1947–1980'' (2005)

Awards and honors

Hess became 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 designation of ASA Fellow has been a sign ...

in 1972.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hess, Irene 1910 births 2009 deaths People from Muhlenberg County, Kentucky American statisticians American women statisticians Indiana University Bloomington alumni University of Michigan faculty Fellows of the American Statistical Association