Census Technology, Politics, and Institutional Change, 1790-2020

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dc.contributor.authorRuggles, Steven
dc.date.accessioned2026-02-14T13:15:52Z
dc.date.available2026-02-14T13:15:52Z
dc.date.issued2026-02-13
dc.descriptionSteven Ruggles is Regents Professor of History and Population Studies at the University of Minnesota. He is best-known as the creator of IPUMS, the world’s largest population database. IPUMS provides information about over two billion people residing in 167 countries between 1703 and 2025, including every respondent to the surviving U.S. censuses of 1790 to 1950. Ruggles has published extensively on historical demography, focusing especially on long-run changes in multigenerational families, single parenthood, divorce, and marriage, and methods for population history. In 2022 Ruggles received a MacArthur “genius” award in recognition of his work on IPUMS. In 1995, he was named “King of Quant” by Wired Magazine; in 2014, he was named a “Wonkblog-Certified Data Wizard” by the Washington Post. He has served as President of the Population Association of America (2015), the Association of Population Centers (2017-2018), and the Social Science History Association (2018-2019). Ruggles received a Ph.D. in History with a specialization in historical demography at the University of Pennsylvania, and did postdoctoral training in demography at the University of Wisconsin.
dc.description.abstractThis presentation traces the history of the methods and technology used by the Census Bureau to convert individual census responses into published tabulations. Political considerations shaped the content and applications of the census, as well as the mechanics of census taking. Its history reflects the critical and shifting role of the state and the private sector in the development of technology.
dc.description.sponsorshipIU Workshop in Methods
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2022/34765
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherIndiana University Workshop in Methods
dc.relation.urihttps://media.dlib.indiana.edu/media_objects/qb98nf69b
dc.rightsThis work may be protected by copyright unless otherwise stated.
dc.titleCensus Technology, Politics, and Institutional Change, 1790-2020
dc.typePresentation

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