James A. Davis (1929–2016) was a distinguished American sociologist who is best known as a pioneer in the application of quantitative statistical methods to social science research and teaching. Most recently, he was a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

Life

Born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Davis grew up in

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago and Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in far northern Illinois on the banks of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock River, Rockfor ...

. He received his B.S. from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

in 1950, his M.S. from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

in 1952, and his Ph.D. from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1955. In 1972, while Professor Davis was Director of the

National Opinion Research Center NORC at the University of Chicago, previously the National Opinion Research Center, is an independent social research organization in the United States. Established in 1941, its corporate headquarters is located in downtown Chicago, with office ...

, he founded the National Data Program for the Social Sciences and developed the

General Social Survey The General Social Survey (GSS) is a sociological survey created in 1972 by James A. Davis of the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago and funded by the National Science Foundation. The GSS collects information ...

(GSS). He later co-founded the

International Social Survey Program The International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) is a collaboration between different nations conducting surveys covering topics which are useful for social science research. The ISSP researchers develop questions which are meaningful and relevan ...

(ISSP). The GSS is the biennial national survey that has been tracking social change in America continuously since 1972. The GSS provides scholars, policy makers, students, and the interested general public with data on Americans' attitudes, and continues to document changes in Americans' behavior and attitudes. The GSS is the second-most frequently used dataset in sociology, after the US Census. In addition to teaching at the University of Chicago, Davis taught at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

(1956–1957),

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

(1967–1972, 1976–1977), and

(1977–1994), where he was the Chair of Sociology. Beginning in 1979, Davis and his wife, Martha Davis (also from

), were co-masters of Harvard's

Winthrop House John Winthrop House, commonly known as Winthrop House, is one of 12 undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University, an Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which houses approximately 400 upper class undergraduates. Winthro ...

. Starting in 1977, he was an instructor in the ECPR Summer School in Social Science Data Analysis and Collection, at the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...

. In 2010, Davis received the Warren J. Mitofsky Award for Excellence in Public Opinion Research from the Board of Directors of the

Roper Center for Public Opinion Research The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Cornell University is the world's oldest archive of social science data and the largest specializing in data from public opinion surveys. Its collection includes over 27,000 datasets and more than 85 ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. He died on September 29, 2016, in Michigan City, Indiana, after a brief illness.

Honors

*1992 Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award,

American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fi ...

, 1989 *1994 AAPOR Award,

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 ...

*1997 Levinson Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Senior Faculty Member, Harvard University *1997 Warren E. Miller Award for Meritorious Services to the Social Sciences, Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) *2010 Mitofsky Award for Excellence in Public Opinion Research, Roper Center, University of Connecticut

Selected publications

* 1967: "Clustering and structural balance in graphs",

Human Relations In social psychology, an interpersonal relation (or interpersonal relationship) describes a social association, connection, or affiliation between two or more people. It overlaps significantly with the concept of social relations, which ar ...

20:181–7 * 1971: "The Logic of Causal Order" in ''Elementary Survey Analysis'', Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1985

Sage Publishing Sage Publishing, formerly SAGE Publications, is an American Independent business, independent Academic publishing, academic publishing company, founded in 1965 in New York City by Sara Miller McCune and now based in the Newbury Park, California, ...

* 1992: (with Tom W. Smith) ''The NORC General Social Survey'', Sage * 1994: "What's Wrong with Sociology." ''

Sociological Forum ''Sociological Forum'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic disciplin ...

'' 9: 179–97 * 1997: "The GSS Capturing American Attitude Change." in ''The Public Perspective'', February–March: 31–34 * 2001: "Testing the Demographic Explanation of Attitude Trends: Secular Trends in Attitudes Among U.S. Householders, 1972-1996," in ''

Social Science Research ''Social Science Research'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the field of sociology. It was established in 1972 by Academic Press and is currently published by Elsevier, which acquired Academic Press in 2000. The editor-in-chi ...

'' 30: 363–385 * 2003: "Did Growing Up in the 1960s Leave a Permanent Mark on Attitudes and Values? Evidence from the GSS," in ''

Public Opinion Quarterly ''Public Opinion Quarterly'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Oxford University Press for the American Association for Public Opinion Research, covering communication studies, political science, current public opinion, and survey ...

'' 68: 161–183

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, James A. 1929 births Northwestern University alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Harvard University alumni American sociologists Dartmouth College faculty Harvard University faculty 2016 deaths