Leslie Kish's Contributions to Survey Sampling

• Activity Number: 451 - 125 Years of Representative Sampling: Important Contributions in the History of Survey Statistics
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Thursday, August 6, 2020 : 10:00 AM to 11:50 AM
• Sponsor: Survey Research Methods Section
• Author(s): Raphael Nishimura* and James Lepkowski and Steve Heeringa and James Wagner
• Companies: University of Michigan and University of Michigan and University of Michigan and University of Michigan
• Keywords: Survey sampling; Survey statistics; History of statistics

Abstract

Leslie Kish was a pioneer in the development of survey sampling methods. His contributions to the survey sampling and related survey research topics included the invention of new applied sampling methods, investigation of the properties of sampling variance estimates, development of software systems for routine estimation of sampling variances, exploration of nonsampling errors such as interviewer variance, advancing techniques for small area estimation, and exploring survey sample designs across space and time. He was a tireless educator who developed courses on survey sampling, wrote textbooks on survey sampling and research design, and trained generations of survey samplers. Kish also helped establish organizations for the advancement of survey research and survey sampling, recognized today as a founder of the Institute for Social Research (ISR) at the University of Michigan, the International Association of Survey Statisticians, and the Sampling Program for Foreign Statisticians (now the Sampling Program for Survey Statisticians) at ISR. His work profoundly affected the direction of survey sampling and the careers and research of hundreds of scholars around the world.