The Institute for Social Research and Social Science at the University and Michigan and Beyond, 1946-1970 (Eugene Burnstein, James House, Robert Kahn, Donald Kinder, Robert Pachella, Frank Stafford, and Margaret Levenstein), March 22, 2017
From Gregory Parker
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After 1945, many of the founders of the Institute for Social Research (ISR) arrived at Michigan fresh from wartime service in the federal government to establish a new interdisciplinary, problem-centered, approach to social inquiry. Situated in ISR and eventually in disciplinary homes in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (including psychology, sociology, political science, and economics), their research expanded and defined national survey and experimental methods as key underpinnings for modern social science. They shared a democratizing vision of the importance of accurate and timely social measurement in an urbanizing and modernizing world. Panelists will explore this early history of ISR.
Professor Burnstein, professor emeritus of psychology, received his AB degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1954 and his PhD degree from the University of Michigan in 1960. From 1959 to 1962 he was an assistant professor at the University of Texas and then Michigan State University. He joined the University of Michigan faculty as a visiting assistant professor and program director in the Research Center for Group Dynamics at the Institute for Social Research in 1962. He was appointed assistant professor in 1963, associate professor in 1964, and professor in 1968, and within the Research Center for Group Dynamics was promoted to research scientist in 1973 and senior research scientist in 1997. From 1988-2000, Professor Burnstein also served as chair of the Department of Psychology's Social Psychology Area. He retired from active faculty status on May 31, 2002.
James House is Angus Campbell Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Survey Research, Public Policy, and Sociology, and an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Academy of Sciences. His research career has focused on the role of social and psychological factors in the etiology and course of health and illness, initially on occupational stress and health, then social relationships and support in relation to health, and currently on the role of psychosocial factors in understanding and alleviating social disparities in health and the way health changes with age. He has taught courses in social psychology, social determinants and disparities in health, and applications of these to social policy.
Robert Kahn is research scientist in the Institute for Social Research, professor emeritus of psychology, and professor emeritus of health services management and policy. His research on organizations and as a survey research methodologist is internationally renowned. He retired from active faculty status in 1988.
Donald Kinder is the Philip E. Converse Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Political Science. His research includes comparisons of explicit and implicit forms of prejudice and their consequences for contemporary American political life, misunderstanding of ideology in the study of American politics, gender and race as alternative forms for political organization, and the transformation of racial politics in the United States since Myrdal.
Margaret Levenstein is Director of the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research, Research Professor at the Survey Research Center in the Institute for Social Research and at the School of Information, and Adjunct Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business. She has taught economics at the University of Michigan since 1990. She also serves as Executive Director of the Michigan Federal Statistical Research Data Center and co-PI of the Michigan Center for the Demography of Aging, where she has responsibility for access to restricted data resources. She is the Associate Chair of the American Economic Association’s Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession and past President of the Business History Conference. She is the author of numerous studies on competition and collusion, the development of information systems, and using “organic” data to improve social and economic measurement.
Robert Pachella is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan and a faculty counselor in the Undergraduate Honors Program. He studies both human perception and performance and the forensic applications of cognitive psychology.
Frank Stafford joined the UM faculty in the 1966-67 academic year and has served as Chair of Economics. His current research at the Survey ResearchCenter involves design and management of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) as a Co-Principal Investigator. In May of 2000 the PSID was selected as one of NSF’s ‘Nifty Fifty," the 50 projects which the NSF identified as most interesting or significant in their 50 year history. He has intermittently advised a research team in Israel and in 2014 and 2015 has worked with a team at the National University of Singapore to develop an national panel for Singapore.
This LSA Bicentennial Theme Semester event is presented with support from the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and the University of Michigan Bicentennial Office. Additional support provided by the Department of History and the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies.
Professor Burnstein, professor emeritus of psychology, received his AB degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1954 and his PhD degree from the University of Michigan in 1960. From 1959 to 1962 he was an assistant professor at the University of Texas and then Michigan State University. He joined the University of Michigan faculty as a visiting assistant professor and program director in the Research Center for Group Dynamics at the Institute for Social Research in 1962. He was appointed assistant professor in 1963, associate professor in 1964, and professor in 1968, and within the Research Center for Group Dynamics was promoted to research scientist in 1973 and senior research scientist in 1997. From 1988-2000, Professor Burnstein also served as chair of the Department of Psychology's Social Psychology Area. He retired from active faculty status on May 31, 2002.
James House is Angus Campbell Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Survey Research, Public Policy, and Sociology, and an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Academy of Sciences. His research career has focused on the role of social and psychological factors in the etiology and course of health and illness, initially on occupational stress and health, then social relationships and support in relation to health, and currently on the role of psychosocial factors in understanding and alleviating social disparities in health and the way health changes with age. He has taught courses in social psychology, social determinants and disparities in health, and applications of these to social policy.
Robert Kahn is research scientist in the Institute for Social Research, professor emeritus of psychology, and professor emeritus of health services management and policy. His research on organizations and as a survey research methodologist is internationally renowned. He retired from active faculty status in 1988.
Donald Kinder is the Philip E. Converse Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Political Science. His research includes comparisons of explicit and implicit forms of prejudice and their consequences for contemporary American political life, misunderstanding of ideology in the study of American politics, gender and race as alternative forms for political organization, and the transformation of racial politics in the United States since Myrdal.
Margaret Levenstein is Director of the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research, Research Professor at the Survey Research Center in the Institute for Social Research and at the School of Information, and Adjunct Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business. She has taught economics at the University of Michigan since 1990. She also serves as Executive Director of the Michigan Federal Statistical Research Data Center and co-PI of the Michigan Center for the Demography of Aging, where she has responsibility for access to restricted data resources. She is the Associate Chair of the American Economic Association’s Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession and past President of the Business History Conference. She is the author of numerous studies on competition and collusion, the development of information systems, and using “organic” data to improve social and economic measurement.
Robert Pachella is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan and a faculty counselor in the Undergraduate Honors Program. He studies both human perception and performance and the forensic applications of cognitive psychology.
Frank Stafford joined the UM faculty in the 1966-67 academic year and has served as Chair of Economics. His current research at the Survey ResearchCenter involves design and management of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) as a Co-Principal Investigator. In May of 2000 the PSID was selected as one of NSF’s ‘Nifty Fifty," the 50 projects which the NSF identified as most interesting or significant in their 50 year history. He has intermittently advised a research team in Israel and in 2014 and 2015 has worked with a team at the National University of Singapore to develop an national panel for Singapore.
This LSA Bicentennial Theme Semester event is presented with support from the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and the University of Michigan Bicentennial Office. Additional support provided by the Department of History and the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies.
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