Joseph Berkson (14 May 1899 – 12 September 1982)[1] was trained as a physicist (BSc 1920, College of City of New York [CCNY], M.A., 1922, Columbia), physician (M.D., 1927, Johns Hopkins), and statistician (Dr.Sc., 1928, Johns Hopkins).[2] He is best known for having identified a source of bias in observational studies caused by selection effects known as Berkson's paradox.[3]
In 1950, as Head (1934–1964) of the Division of Biometry and Medical Statistics[2] of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, Berkson wrote a key paper entitled Are there two regressions?[4] In this paper Berkson proposed an error model for regression analysis that contradicted the classical error model until that point assumed to generally apply and this has since been termed the Berkson error model. Whereas the classical error model is statistically independent of the true variable, Berkson's model is statistically independent of the observed variable.[5] Carroll et al. (1995) refer to the two types of error models as follows:[6]
error models including the Classical Measurement Error models and Error Calibration Models, where the conditional distribution of W given (Z, X) is modeled — use of such a model is appropriate when attempting to determine X directly, but this is prevented by various errors in measurement.
regression calibration models (also known as controlled-variable or Berkson error models), where the conditional distribution of X given (Z, W) is modeled.
Berkson is also widely recognised as the key proponent in the use of the logistic in preference to the normal distribution in probabilistic techniques.[7]
Berkson is also credited with the introduction of the logit model in 1944,[8] and with coining this term. The term was borrowed by analogy from the very similar probit model developed by Chester Ittner Bliss in 1934.
Berkson was a prominent opponent of the idea that cigarette smoking causes cancer. In the 1957 Liggett & Myers annual report, he was quoted as saying "the evidence, taken as a whole, does not establish, on any reasonable scientific basis, that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer."[9] Following the issuance of the famous report Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, he was quoted in Life magazine as saying it was "very doubtful that smoking causes cancer of the lung."[10]
^O'Fallon, Judith Rich; Cormack, R. M.; Bithell, J. F. (1983). "Obituaries". Biometrics. 39 (4): 1107–1111. JSTOR 2531346.
^ abO'Fallon WM (1998). "Berkson, Joseph". Armitage P, Colton T, Editors-in-Chief. Encyclopedia of Biostatistics. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. Volume 1, pp. 290-295.
^BERKSON J (1946). "Limitations of the application of fourfold table analysis to hospital data". Biometrics. 2 (3): 47–53. doi:10.2307/3002000. JSTOR 3002000. PMID 21001024.
^Berkson J (1950). "Are there two regressions?". Journal of the American Statistical Association. 45 (250): 164–180. doi:10.2307/2280676. JSTOR 2280676.
^Heid IM, Kuchenhoff H, Miles J, Kreienbrock L, Wichmann HE (2004). "Two dimensions of measurement error: Classical and Berkson error in residential radon exposure assessment". J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol. 14 (5): 365–377. doi:10.1038/sj.jea.7500332. PMID 15361895.
^Carroll, R. J.; Ruppert, D.; Stefanski, L. A. (2006). Measurement Error in Nonlinear Models (Second ed.). London: Chapman & Hall. pp. 26–32. ISBN 1-4200-1013-1.
^Lecture notes for Economics students at Sussex university. Online resource: [1][permanent dead link]
^Berkson J (1944). "Application of the logistic function to bio-assay". Journal of the American Statistical Association. 39 (227). Journal of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 39, No. 227: 357–65. doi:10.2307/2280041. JSTOR 2280041.
^TobaccoDocuments.org. Archived from the original on 2007-12-24.
^Inc, Time (January 24, 1964). "Verdict on Cigarets: Guilty as Charged". Life Magazine. Time Inc: 52–64.
JosephBerkson (14 May 1899 – 12 September 1982) was trained as a physicist (BSc 1920, College of City of New York [CCNY], M.A., 1922, Columbia), physician...
"probability unit". This is, however, computationally more expensive. In 1944, JosephBerkson used log of odds and called this function logit, an abbreviation for...
Berkson is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: JosephBerkson (1899–1982), American physicist Berkson's paradox (or Berkson's fallacy)...
It was proposed by JosephBerkson in an article entitled “Are there two regressions?,” published in 1950. An example of Berkson error arises in exposure...
model was originally developed and popularized primarily by JosephBerkson, beginning in Berkson (1944), where he coined "logit"; see § History. Logistic...
Kaplan-Meier estimator approach. The simplest cure rate model was published by JosephBerkson and Robert P. Gage in 1952. In this model, the survival at any given...
Feinstein Ralph Horvitz Daniel Horn E. Cuyler Hammond Harold F. Dorn JosephBerkson George W. Snedecor Gertrude Mary Cox William Gemmell Cochran Janet L...
Yalow had he not died prematurely JosephBerkson 1920 - physician and biostatistician known for Berkson's fallacy/Berkson's paradox. Julius Blank – engineer...
ReMine, M.D., M.S., F.A.C. James T. Priestley, M.D., M.S., F.A.C.S. JosephBerkson, M.D., D.Sc., and Members of the Mayo Clinic". British Journal of Surgery...
estimates the age of the Earth, using uranium–lead dating. June – JosephBerkson describes Berkson's Paradox. July 14 – Dr. Benjamin Spock's The Common Sense Book...
life table." American Journal of Hygiene 30 (1939). with Raymond Pearl and Joseph F. Kish: "The logistic curve and the census count of 1940." Science (New...
Problems in Follow-Up Studies in Chronic Disease, and was supervised by JosephBerkson. She became a professor of biostatistics at Tulane University before...
Snedecor Frederick F. Stephan Willard Thorp Ralph J. Watkins Joseph H. Willits JosephBerkson Samuel A. Stouffer Helen M. Walker Samuel S. Wilks Theodore...
the human heart. In 1938, Willius and his colleagues John English and JosephBerkson were among the first clinicians to accurately predict a direct link...
Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978). A Historical atlas of South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 146, map XIV.2 (b). ISBN 0226742210. Carmel Berkson; Wendy...
capital letters, neither of which were used in Caslon's time. William Berkson, designer of a revival of Caslon, describes Caslon in body text as "comfortable...
supervised by Karl Popper and examined by A.I. Sabra. Berkson credits the book with an influence from Joseph Agassi. It was republished in 2014 by Routledge...
New York School (which includes writers such as Bernadette Mayer, Bill Berkson, Ron Padgett, Ted Berrigan, Anne Waldman and Lewis Warsh). Although Ceravolo’s...
Researches in Electricity and Magnetism, Joseph John Thomson, James Clerk Maxwell, 1883 Fields of Force, William Berkson, 1974 Forces and Fields, Mary B. Hesse...
including Another World (1964), Texas (1980) and Ryan's Hope (1975). With Bill Berkson, he edited the book Homage to Frank O'Hara (Big Sky Books, 1978). Digressions...
adapted into a bluegrass/roots-rock opera by Tim Raphael and composer Jeff Berkson, which had its world premiere at Georgetown University's Davis Performing...
or Junior Rav. Rebbe Honorifics in Judaism list of people called Rabbi Berkson "1:6 Yehoshua ben Perahiah and Nittai of Arbel received from them. Yehoshua...
also grew to include Ted Berrigan, Bernadette Mayer, Ron Padgett, Bill Berkson, Joe Brainard and George Schneeman, among many others. During this time...
Dodie Bellamy, novelist, journalist; professor of creative writing Bill Berkson, poet, critic; taught art criticism in 1983 Jasmin Darznik, Iranian-born...
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