Mitofsky Waksberg: Learning From The Past

Abstract

Warren Mitofsky and Joseph Waksberg were two of the most influential researchers in telephone surveys and survey research methods. Their development of the Mitofsky–Waksberg method for random digit dialing sampling revolutionized telephone sampling and surveys. Jointly and separately, Waksberg and Mitofsky were instrumental in the development of many innovative methods and applications. This article reviews some of their contributions and discusses how their approaches to these problems may be a model for addressing issues that are being encountered currently in the United States in cell phone research.