Mathematica Inc.

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Mathematica, Inc., formerly Mathematica Policy Research, is an American research organization and consulting company headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey. The company provides data science, social science, and technological services for social policy initiatives. [1] Mathematica employs approximately 1,900 researchers, analysts, technologists, and practitioners [2] in nine offices across the United States: Princeton, New Jersey; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Washington, DC; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Seattle, Washington; [3] Woodlawn, Maryland; Tucson, Arizona and Oakland, California. In 2018, the company acquired EDI Global, a data research company based in the United Kingdom and Africa. [4] Mathematica's clients include federal agencies, state and local governments, foundations, universities, private-sector companies, and international organizations.

Contents

History

Samuel G. Barton founded the Industrial Surveys Company in the late 1930s. [5] [6] His company later merged with the Market Research Corporation of America (MRCA) in 1951. In 1962, Oskar Morgenstern co-founded a unit named Mathematica within MRCA, which "was spun off ... to allow for faster growth" in 1969. [7] Morgenstern then became the first chairman of Mathematica.

Mathematica had three divisions: Mathematica Products Group, best known for developing RAMIS (software); MathTech, the company's technical and economic consulting group doing "research projects and computer systems other than RAMIS" [7] ; and Mathematica Policy Research (MPR), whose strength was in "social experiments and surveys." [7]

A quarter of a century after Mathematica's founding, it was largely owned by a group of professors in Mathematics and Economics at Princeton University who, as this group aged, opted to cash out by selling. The result was a 3-way split:

Research

In 1968, the pre-split Mathematica conducted the first social policy experiment in the United States, the New Jersey Income Maintenance Experiment (an experimental study of a negative income tax), to test ways of encouraging low-income individuals to work. [9]

MPR was incorporated as part of Mathematica in 1975 and became known for its large-scale random assignment evaluations of policies and programs such as abstinence education and Job Corps. [10] [11] In 1986, a group of employees purchased MPR from its corporate parent and has since remained employee-owned under the Mathematica, Inc. name. [12]

Research centers

In early 1995, Mathematica formed a research affiliate, the Center for Studying Health System Change, which provides objective analyses of how the country’s changing health care system affects individuals and families.

In 2007, the company launched the Center for Studying Disability Policy (CSDP), to inform disability policy formation with rigorous, objective research, and data collected from the people disability policy aims to serve. CSDP provides leadership and support for disability research and data collection conducted by Mathematica.

In early 2008, Mathematica created the Center for Improving Research Evidence (CIRE), to identify, assess, and disseminate results from quality, rigorous research to inform evidence-based policymaking. CIRE also provides technical assistance in designing, conducting, assessing, and using a range of scientific policy research and evaluations to support a growing national and international research base.

In 2010, Mathematica established the Center on Health Care Effectiveness (CHCE), a resource for policymakers, the public, and other stakeholders.

In 2013, Mathematica established the Center for International Policy Research and Evaluation (CIPRE). Its focus is to provide research-based information to funders and policymakers addressing global development issues.

Structure

Mathematica operates three business divisions: health, human services, and international research. [13] Today, the company centers on research consultation for policy topics including disability, early childhood, education, family support, health, international, labor, and nutrition. The company specializes in program evaluation, policy analysis, survey design, data collection, data management, and interpretation. In recent years, it has begun offering services in data science, design, and visualization.

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Mathematica Inc. was a multi-faceted American software company and consulting group founded by Princeton University professors in 1968. The company had three primary divisions: Mathematica Policy Research, which did consulting work, mostly "to develop mathematical models for marketing decision making"; Mathematica Products Group, best known for developing the RAMIS programming language; and MathTech, the company's technical and economic consulting group. The company was also a leading developer of state lottery systems.

References

  1. ↑ "Mathematica". April 22, 2022.
  2. ↑ "About Mathematica".
  3. ↑ "Mathematica Expands with New Office in Seattle". October 16, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Mathematica and EDI Announce Intended Merger".
  5. ↑ 1914 - Jan.23, 1982: Age 68
  6. ↑ "SAMUEL G. BARTON, 68, A MARKETING SPECIALIST". The New York Times . January 29, 1982.
  7. 1 2 3 Karen W. Arenson (February 22, 1983). "MATHEMATICA'S SHIFT INTO SOFTWARE FIELD". The New York Times.
  8. ↑ James Barron (November 8, 1987). "Learning The Facts of Life". The New York Times .
  9. ↑ "NIT Archive". Wisc.edu. Archived from the original on 6 December 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "What the Research Says..." (PDF). Siecus.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-16. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
  11. ↑ Archived September 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ "About Mathematica". Mathematica. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  13. ↑ "Mathematica: Our Focus Areas". April 22, 2022.


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