Gary King

I develop and apply statistical and other empirical methods in a variety of areas of social science research, focusing on innovations that span the range from abstract statistical theory to practical application. I have developed methods to infer individual-level behavior from group-level data (e.g., used to determine whether the Voting Rights Act applies), methods for forecasting cause-specific mortality rates using more information than has previously been possible (e.g., for directing international public health dollars and evaluating the viability of the insurance schemes and Social Security), and methods of automated analysis of unstructured text (e.g., used to understand social media posts, customer emails, political speeches, and analyst reports). I have also developed the standards and methods used to evaluate whether legislative redistricting plans are fair to one political party to another; methods of survey research that correct for cross-cultural or interpersonal incomparability; and approaches to large scale experimental design for the evaluation of public policy programs that are are more efficient and robust to political and other interventions. For observational data, I have contributed widely-used methods for missing data, measurement error, causal inference, rare events, and data sharing.