Nancy A. Mathiowetz is an American sociologist and

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

, known for her pioneering combination of

cognitive psychology Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of human 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, whi ...

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 d ...

and for her research on

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

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, d ...

. 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 university, public Urban university, urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropo ...

, 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 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 ...

''.

Education

Mathiowetz did her undergraduate studies at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, graduating in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in sociology. She went on to graduate study 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 ...

, 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. It provides research services to government agencies and businesses and conducts research studies in behavioral health & health policy, clinical trials, ...

as a researcher in 1984. She moved to the National Center for Health Services Research in 1987, and again to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

in 1990. At the census, she worked under

Robert Groves Robert Martin Groves (born September 27, 1948) is an American sociologist and survey methodology expert, currently serving as the interim president of Georgetown University since November 2024. He served as the executive vice president and prov ...

, 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 within the

Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services which manages public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant Se ...

. 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 university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

, 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, 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 designation of ASA Fellow has been a sign ...

. 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 American 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