Starting in 1790, and every 10 years since, the census has sorted the American population into distinct racial groups. Remarkably, a discredited relic of 18th-century science, the “five races of mankind,” lives on in the 21st century. [cont.] Kenneth Prewitt (Columbia U.), New York Times Read more »
Thompson Confirmed as Census Bureau Director
The United States Senate confirmed John H. Thompson on August 1 as the new director of the U.S. Census Bureau by unanimous consent. Thompson, who was nominated by President Obama on May 23, 2013 has been an executive at the NORC at the University of Chicago for the past 11 […] Read more »
Census Nominee’s Full Plate
My print column examines the record of President Barack Obama’s nominee to lead the Census Bureau, John H. Thompson, a longtime Census employee who departed after the 2000 census to join the NORC nonprofit research organization at the University of Chicago, where he later rose to become president and chief […] Read more »
Breadwinner Moms
A record 40% of all households with children under the age of 18 include mothers who are either the sole or primary source of income for the family, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The share was just 11% in 1960. […] Read more »
Obama nominates new Census director
President Obama has nominated John H. Thompson to head the U.S. Census Bureau. Thompson, who was nominated Thursday, is president and CEO of the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), a private-sector research group. [cont.] Josh Hicks, Washington Post Read more »
The Congressional War on the Social Sciences
… The nation’s basic science policy, more or less secure for six decades, is being upended, a result of two converging congressional concerns. One is specific to the social sciences—are they real sciences? The second, and much broader, is congressional concern with impact, productivity, pay-off, performance—what justifies science’s claim on […] Read more »