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Sir Godfrey Thomson: a statistical pioneer

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  • David J. Bartholomew
  • Ian J. Deary
  • Martin Lawn

Abstract

Summary. Godfrey Thomson (1881–1955) was a leading figure in intelligence testing who made his name in that field first at Armstrong College, Newcastle, and then at the University of Edinburgh. In the course of his practical work he identified many theoretical problems which were essentially statistical in character. In particular, he used maximum likelihood estimation as early as 1919 and his statistical work largely set the course of modern factor analysis and related techniques. His statistical abilities were recognized, at different stages of his career, by both Karl Pearson and Sir Ronald Fisher. His key insight was to recognize the importance of Fisherian inference for the future of that subject.

Suggested Citation

  • David J. Bartholomew & Ian J. Deary & Martin Lawn, 2009. "Sir Godfrey Thomson: a statistical pioneer," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 172(2), pages 467-482, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jorssa:v:172:y:2009:i:2:p:467-482
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-985X.2008.00567.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. George Ferguson, 1942. "Item selection by the constant process," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 7(1), pages 19-29, March.
    2. George Ferguson, 1941. "The factorial interpretation of test difficulty," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 6(5), pages 323-329, October.
    3. D. Finney, 1944. "The application of probit analysis to the results of mental tests," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 9(1), pages 31-39, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Aldrich, John, 2010. "Econometrics and psychometrics – rivers out of biometry," Discussion Paper Series In Economics And Econometrics 1010, Economics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton.

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