Discrete Multivariate Analysis: Theory and Practice

Title

Discrete Multivariate Analysis Bishop Fienberg Holland 1977 MIT Press PB

Recommended Buy It Now Price$24.99 or Best OfferWhy This Is the Best Price

This is a 1977 fourth-printing MIT Press paperback of Discrete Multivariate Analysis: Theory and Practice by Yvonne M. M. Bishop, Stephen E. Fienberg, and Paul W. Holland, with collaboration from Richard J. Light and Frederick Mosteller.

The copyright page provides unusually clear printing information:

• Second printing, 1976
• Third printing and first MIT Press paperback edition, 1977
• Fourth printing, 1977

Because this copy is a paperback and the publication history extends through the fourth printing, it is accurately identified as the 1977 fourth printing of the original MIT Press edition. It is not the first paperback printing.

This book became a major reference in categorical-data analysis, multidimensional contingency tables, and log-linear statistical modeling. The original work was published by MIT Press in 1975 and was later reissued by Springer, which describes it as a 559-page work in statistical theory and methods.

Current ordinary used copies of this ISBN are offered for approximately $10, including examples described as Good or Very Good. A separate bookseller identifies a 1977 copy as the first MIT paperback edition and notes that collectible value varies with printing and condition.

Your copy has considerable exterior rubbing, scuffing, edge wear, and corner wear, which prevents it from commanding a premium collector price. However, it also has a particularly meaningful feature: an original Stephan Michelson ownership label inside. That direct ownership mark is much stronger provenance than merely knowing that the book came from his estate.

I recommend $24.99 with Best Offer because it recognizes:

• The book’s enduring scholarly importance
• Its original 1970s MIT Press format
• The clearly identified 1977 fourth printing
• Its relevance to statisticians, econometricians, sociologists, and researchers
• Stephan Michelson’s visible ownership label
• The need to account honestly for substantial cover wear

DescriptionDiscrete Multivariate Analysis: Theory and PracticeBy Yvonne M. M. Bishop, Stephen E. Fienberg, and Paul W. HollandWith the Collaboration of Richard J. Light and Frederick MostellerThe MIT Press1977 Fourth PrintingOriginal MIT Press Paperback EditionFrom the Professional Library of Stephan Michelson

Offered is an original 1977 MIT Press paperback printing of one of the foundational modern texts on the statistical analysis of categorical and discrete multivariate data.

Discrete Multivariate Analysis: Theory and Practice presents a comprehensive framework for analyzing data organized into cross-classified and multidimensional contingency tables.

Rather than studying only continuous measurements such as income, weight, or temperature, discrete multivariate analysis focuses on variables that represent categories or countable outcomes, including:

• Yes-or-no responses
• Educational classifications
• Employment status
• Voting behavior
• Medical outcomes
• Demographic categories
• Survey responses
• Legal outcomes
• Social classifications
• Presence or absence of an event
• Combinations of multiple categorical characteristics

The authors develop statistical methods for determining how these variables relate to one another, how interactions can be measured, and how large tables of counts can be represented through mathematically structured models.

The book became especially important for its systematic presentation of log-linear models, methods for analyzing contingency tables, incomplete tables, multidimensional categorical data, and related statistical problems.

Why This Book Matters

This book helped establish the modern statistical treatment of categorical data.

Before the widespread availability of modern statistical software, analyzing large multidimensional contingency tables required substantial mathematical work and careful theoretical development. Bishop, Fienberg, and Holland brought together methods that had previously been dispersed across journal articles and specialized research literature.

The rear cover quotes contemporary reviewers who viewed the book as a comprehensive general reference on discrete multivariate analysis and as a major guide to quantitative data.

The work addresses questions such as:

• Are two categorical variables statistically associated?
• Does an apparent relationship remain after controlling for other variables?
• How should interactions among three or more variables be measured?
• Can a large multidimensional table be represented by a simpler model?
• How should zero, missing, or incomplete cells be handled?
• Which effects are necessary to explain observed patterns?
• How can categorical data from different fields be compared?
• How should researchers test whether a proposed model fits the evidence?

These questions arise throughout statistics, sociology, economics, epidemiology, psychology, education, political science, law, public policy, demography, and medical research.

Discrete and Categorical Data

A variable is described as discrete when its possible outcomes are separated into distinct values or categories.

Examples include:

• Convicted or acquitted
• Employed or unemployed
• College graduate or non-graduate
• Treatment success or failure
• Political-party preference
• Geographic region
• Income category
• Occupational group
• Race or ethnicity categories used in historical datasets
• Number of events occurring within a period

When several such variables are examined together, the resulting data may be arranged in a multidimensional table.

For example, a researcher might classify individuals according to:

• Education level
• Employment status
• Sex
• Region
• Income group

Each cell of the table represents the number of cases having a particular combination of characteristics.

The challenge is to determine which observed relationships are meaningful and which may be explained by other variables or random variation.

Contingency Tables

Contingency tables are central to the book.

A simple two-way table may compare two categorical variables, such as education and employment. A multidimensional table may simultaneously classify cases by education, employment, region, age group, and another characteristic.

As the number of variables increases, these tables become difficult to interpret directly.

The book develops methods for:

• Estimating expected cell counts
• Testing independence
• Measuring conditional relationships
• Evaluating interactions
• Comparing competing models
• Decomposing complex associations
• Working with sparse or incomplete tables
• Understanding the effects of collapsing categories

The copyright page credits earlier research published in Biometrika, the Journal of the American Statistical Association, and the New England Journal of Medicine, demonstrating how the book consolidated methods developed across several major research fields.

Log-Linear Models

One of the book’s most influential subjects is the use of log-linear models.

These models express expected cell counts through additive terms on a logarithmic scale. The terms can represent:

• Individual variable effects
• Two-variable associations
• Three-variable interactions
• Higher-order relationships

This structure allows researchers to compare models of different complexity and determine which interactions are required to explain the data.

Log-linear modeling later became a standard component of categorical-data analysis and remains conceptually important in modern statistics, machine learning, survey research, epidemiology, and the social sciences.

Springer’s later reissue continues to classify the book under statistical theory and methods, and the work has accumulated extensive scholarly citations.

Applications Across Many Fields

The rear cover notes that the book draws applications from numerous subject areas.

Discrete multivariate methods are useful wherever researchers analyze classified or count data, including:

Sociology

• Social mobility
• Occupational status
• Family structure
• Education
• Demographic differences
• Survey responses

Economics and Public Policy

• Labor-force participation
• Poverty classifications
• Program participation
• Consumer choices
• Economic mobility
• Policy outcomes

Medicine and Public Health

• Disease occurrence
• Treatment outcomes
• Risk categories
• Epidemiological comparisons
• Clinical classifications

Political Science

• Voting behavior
• Party preference
• Public opinion
• Electoral participation
• Policy attitudes

Psychology and Education

• Test responses
• Student classifications
• Behavioral categories
• Educational outcomes
• Program effectiveness

Law and Criminal Justice

• Case outcomes
• Sentencing patterns
• Disparities among groups
• Jury decisions
• Litigation outcomes
• Cross-classified legal data

The broad range of applications helps explain why this title became an important interdisciplinary reference rather than a narrowly theoretical mathematics book.

A Foundational Statistical Reference

The book was originally published by MIT Press in 1975. Contemporary reviews identified it as a substantial work of approximately 557–559 pages devoted to discrete multivariate analysis.

Its importance has endured sufficiently for Springer to reissue the work in 2007, noting that it was originally published by MIT Press and placing it within statistical theory and methodology.

Stephen Fienberg’s publication record later described the book as a citation classic, and it became strongly associated with the development and dissemination of log-linear methods for contingency tables.

This copy therefore represents more than an obsolete textbook. It is an original-period edition of a work that helped shape an important area of modern applied statistics.

About Yvonne M. M. Bishop

Yvonne Millicent Mahala Bishop was a statistician whose work included biostatistics, multidimensional contingency tables, public-health research, and government statistical standards.

She completed her doctorate at Harvard University in 1967 with research involving multidimensional contingency tables and cell estimation.

Her career included work connected with:

• Harvard School of Public Health
• Air-pollution research
• Medical studies
• Federal energy statistics
• Statistical standards

She later served in senior statistical roles within the United States Department of Energy and Energy Information Administration.

Her work on Discrete Multivariate Analysis helped establish the book as a classic reference in multivariate and categorical-data methods.

About Stephen E. Fienberg

Stephen E. Fienberg was an internationally recognized statistician whose work connected advanced statistical theory with major public and scientific problems.

He earned his doctorate in statistics at Harvard University under Frederick Mosteller and became especially known for research involving:

• Log-linear models
• Contingency tables
• Categorical data
• Census methodology
• Privacy and confidentiality
• Network analysis
• Forensic science
• Statistics in law and public policy

Fienberg later held major academic roles at Carnegie Mellon University and authored hundreds of scholarly works.

His career is particularly relevant to this copy’s Stephan Michelson provenance because both men worked at the intersection of statistics, public policy, legal evidence, and social research.

About Paul W. Holland

Paul W. Holland is a statistician and educational researcher known for work involving statistical theory, causal inference, test equating, educational measurement, and categorical data.

His contribution to this book helped connect theoretical statistics with practical applications across the social and behavioral sciences.

The title page also credits the collaboration of:

• Richard J. Light
• Frederick Mosteller

Mosteller was one of the most influential American statisticians of the twentieth century and played a major role in developing statistical education and interdisciplinary applied research at Harvard.

The participation of this group reflects the book’s strong connection with the Harvard statistical community of the period.

Edition and Printing Identification

The copyright page confirms:

• Copyright © 1975 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Published by The MIT Press
• Printed in the United States
• Second printing: 1976
• Third printing and first MIT Press paperback edition: 1977
• Fourth printing: 1977
• Paperback ISBN: 0-262-52040-0
• Hardcover ISBN: 0-262-02113-7

Because this is a paperback and the copyright page includes the later statement “Fourth printing, 1977,” this copy is accurately identified as:

1977 Fourth Printing — MIT Press Paperback

It is not:

• The 1975 first printing
• The 1975 hardcover first edition
• The first MIT Press paperback printing
• A modern Springer reprint
• A print-on-demand reproduction
• A hardcover copy

The corresponding modern ISBN forms are:

ISBN-10: 0262520400
ISBN-13: 9780262520409

Current marketplace records associate that ISBN with the 1977 MIT Press trade paperback and describe it as approximately 568 pages.

Direct Stephan Michelson Ownership Provenance

This copy contains an original gold ownership label bearing the name:

Stephan Michelson

This is stronger provenance than a book merely acquired with the larger estate library because the physical label directly connects this particular volume to Michelson’s personal and professional collection.

Stephan Michelson was a Stanford-trained economist, Harvard researcher, econometrician, and litigation-support consultant whose work involved:

• Statistical analysis
• Economics
• Education research
• Civil rights
• Public policy
• Quantitative evidence
• Legal and institutional analysis

This title is exceptionally relevant to Michelson’s career.

The book’s methods could be applied to the exact kinds of questions that arose in his work:

• Examining disparities across demographic groups
• Analyzing education outcomes
• Studying cross-classified social data
• Controlling for multiple variables
• Evaluating interaction effects
• Testing claims of unequal treatment
• Presenting statistical evidence in litigation
• Comparing competing explanations for observed differences

The ownership label is visible inside the book. For privacy and presentation, an description should mention the named ownership label without reproducing the full former street address printed on it.

This is not an author signature, presentation inscription, or association copy connecting Michelson personally with the authors. It is a genuine ownership-marked copy from his working research library.

Detailed ConditionGood Vintage Academic Reference Condition

This is a complete-looking and usable scholarly reference copy with substantial exterior wear from age, shelf storage, and professional use.

Front Cover

• Original green, blue, and white MIT Press paperback cover is present.
• Title and author names remain fully readable.
• Noticeable rubbing, scratching, and surface scuffing.
• Edge wear is visible around the perimeter.
• Top edge has small nicks, rubbing, and mild paper wear.
• Lower edge and corners show wear and small bends.
• Minor surface marks are visible across the green and white areas.
• Cover remains attached.
• No large area of paper loss is apparent.

Rear Cover

• Heavy rubbing and numerous pale scuffs and scratches are visible.
• Substantial handling and shelf wear across the green surface.
• Edges and corners show rubbing and softening.
• Upper and lower edges have small nicks and abrasions.
• Publisher’s text remains readable.
• No major rear-cover tear or detached section is apparent.

Spine and Binding

• Spine shows rubbing, creasing, and color loss.
• Binding appears intact.
• Pages remain attached in the photographed areas.
• No detached gatherings or complete separation are visible.
• Because this is a large, heavily used academic paperback, it should be handled with reasonable care.

Interior

• Title and copyright pages remain clean and fully legible.
• Pages show normal age toning.
• Original Stephan Michelson ownership label is attached inside.
• No extensive highlighting, underlining, or marginal notes are visible in the photographed pages.
• No ex-library stamps, circulation pockets, call numbers, or institutional labels are shown.
• No loose or missing pages are apparent from the supplied photographs.

Ownership Label

• Gold adhesive label bearing Stephan Michelson’s name and former mailing information.
• Label appears securely attached.
• This is a personal ownership mark and should not be removed.
• It contributes meaningful provenance while also preventing the book from being described as free of ownership marks.

Only selected pages were photographed. The book is not guaranteed to be free from every small note or incidental mark elsewhere. Please review all photographs carefully because they show the exact copy being offered and form part of the complete condition description.

Item Specifics

Book Title: Discrete Multivariate Analysis
Subtitle: Theory and Practice
Authors: Yvonne M. M. Bishop, Stephen E. Fienberg, Paul W. Holland
Collaborators: Richard J. Light and Frederick Mosteller
Publisher: The MIT Press
Original Publication Year: 1975
Printing Year: 1977
Edition: Original MIT Press Edition
Printing: Fourth Printing
Paperback Edition: MIT Press Paperback Edition
Format: Trade Paperback
Binding: Softcover
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0262520400
ISBN-13: 9780262520409
Hardcover ISBN Listed: 0262021137
Pages: Approximately 558–568 pages, depending on counting convention
Subject Area: Mathematics and Statistics
Subjects: Multivariate Analysis, Categorical Data, Statistical Modeling
Topics: Log-Linear Models, Contingency Tables, Discrete Data, Data Analysis
Features: Bibliography, Tables, Figures, Applications, Index
Intended Audience: Academic, Professional, Graduate-Level
Original Language: English
Country of Publication: United States
Printed In: United States
Signed: No
Inscribed: No
Ownership Mark: Stephan Michelson name label
Ex-Library: No visible evidence
Vintage: Yes
Condition: Good Vintage Academic Reference Condition

Buyer Questions and AnswersIs this a first edition?

It belongs to the original MIT Press edition first published in 1975, but this particular copy is a later printing.

Is this a first printing?

No. The copyright page identifies this copy as the fourth printing.

Is this the first paperback edition?

No. The copyright page states that the third printing in 1977 was the first MIT Press paperback edition. This copy is the subsequent fourth printing from 1977.

What year was this copy printed?

1977.

Is it a hardcover?

No. This is the MIT Press trade paperback edition.

Is this the modern Springer edition?

No. This is an original-period MIT Press paperback. Springer reissued the work decades later.

Is the book signed?

No author signature is visible.

Who was Stephan Michelson?

Stephan Michelson was an economist, quantitative researcher, econometrician, and litigation-support consultant. This copy bears his personal ownership label.

Is the Stephan Michelson label actually inside this copy?

Yes. The photographed interior shows a gold label bearing his name.

Does the label increase the value?

It gives the copy meaningful scholarly provenance, particularly because the book’s subject closely matches Michelson’s statistical and econometric work. It does not make the book equivalent to a signed author copy, but it distinguishes it from an anonymous used textbook.

Will the full address on the label be included in the listing?

The photographs may show the label, but the written description should mention the Stephan Michelson ownership label without repeating the complete former street address.

Is this an ex-library copy?

No visible library stamps, card pockets, call numbers, or institutional markings appear in the supplied photographs.

Is there writing or highlighting?

No extensive writing, highlighting, or underlining is visible in the pages photographed. Because this was a professionally used statistical reference, isolated marks elsewhere cannot be ruled out unless every page is checked.

What condition is it in?

It is in Good vintage academic condition. The covers have substantial rubbing, scratching, scuffing, and edge wear. The binding appears intact, and the photographed interior remains clean and readable.

What is discrete multivariate analysis?

It is the statistical study of multiple variables whose values fall into distinct categories or counts rather than continuous measurements.

What is a contingency table?

A contingency table organizes counts according to combinations of categorical variables, allowing researchers to study associations and interactions.

What are log-linear models?

Log-linear models describe the expected counts in contingency-table cells and help determine which variables and interactions are necessary to explain observed patterns.

Is this still useful today?

Yes. Although modern software has simplified computation, the theoretical foundations of categorical-data analysis, contingency tables, and log-linear models remain important. The book was later reissued by Springer because of its continuing scholarly relevance.

Who would benefit from this book?

This title may appeal to:

• Data scientists
• Sociologists
• Political scientists
• Education researchers
• Demographers
• Legal-statistics specialists
• Public-policy analysts
• Graduate students
• Historians of statistics
• Collectors of foundational statistical works
• Researchers interested in Stephan Michelson’s professional library