About

Barbara A. Anderson is a Collegiate Professor of Sociology and Population Studies at the University of Michigan, with an office in Room 3115 of the LSA Building. Her work focuses on the relationship between social and economic change and demographic change. She has conducted research in various regions including the Russian Empire, Soviet Union, China, and South Africa. Much of her recent research has been centered on South Africa, where she studies issues faced by rural Africans such as infant and child survival, adult mortality patterns, orphanhood trends, perceptions of environmental problems, and changes in material living standards and the African middle class. Anderson's work is characterized by the use of high-quality data available in South Africa to analyze these demographic and social issues, emphasizing the importance of understanding population dynamics within broader social and economic contexts.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Medicine
• Social psychology
• Demography
• Sociology
• Political Science
• Obstetrics
• Internal medicine
• Clinical psychology
• Endocrinology
• Developmental psychology
• Psychiatry
• Gender studies

Selected publications

• MargoAnderson and WilliamSeltzerUse and Misuse of the United States Census: The Role of Data in the Incarceration of Japanese Americans in World War IISpringer, 2024, 230 p., $44.99

  Population and Development Review · 2025-11-20

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This book's subtitle should actually be its title. It is not a general consideration of proper census use or set of examples of use and misuse of the census. It is focused almost exclusively on the use of 1940 U.S. Census data in the identification of Japanese citizens and those of Japanese background (race is recorded as Japanese in the 1940 Census) for the purpose of mass incarceration. The book spotlights how geopolitical moments, perceived threats to national security, and accompanying popular politics can place strain on data custodians even at the highest level. The authors demonstrate the specific characters, relationships and legal mechanisms that led to the U.S. 1940 Census breach. Following the issuance of Executive Order 9066 that authorized the forced evacuation and rehousing of anyone living in a military area who could present a threat to national security, over 120,000 Japanese Americans—more than half of whom were American citizens—were moved out of their homes and contained in ten incarceration camps. There are many terrible aspects of this incarceration of Japanese Americans, including the conditions in which people were held and the loss of houses, businesses, and other property, but this book deals specifically with the role of the 1940 Census data in enabling authorities to identify and locate all citizens of Japanese background. Anderson and Seltzer are a well-qualified team to elucidate violations of the law, unethical actions, and actors on various sides of this policy debate regarding the illegal appropriation of US Census data. Anderson is the author of a highly regarded history of the US Census, and Seltzer held important positions at the US Census Bureau, the Population Council, and the United Nations as a statistician and demographer and specializes in the use of population data systems in facilitating human rights abuse. This book will be of interest to demographers, historians, and parties interested in human rights as well as those interested in data privacy, the integrity of official statistics, governmental integrity, and public trust. Suspicion of citizens of an enemy country during time of war is common, and there was consideration of detaining German and Italian citizens during the Second World War, but this was never implemented. There seems to have been little suspicion of American citizens of German or Italian ancestry. Government and the general population feared an attack on the West Coast by Japan and the possibility of espionage provoked by Japan and aided by Japanese Americans, but there were no cases found of espionage by Japanese Americans. There was enormous prejudice against Japanese, along with concern from agricultural and fishing interests about competition from Japanese Americans. These factors lead to pressure for incarceration of all Japanese, regardless of citizenship. Census data on individuals were protected by law against release to anyone, including the Defense Department or any agency. There was also a restriction on publication of aggregate data that could easily be used to identify individuals (Census Act of 1929). These restrictions were under strong attack by those who argued that census microdata on Japanese, citizens or not, were necessary for the war effort. Such tensions between privacy and demand for microdata for war, national security, or criminal prosecution purposes are common. Many data on Japanese citizens who were born outside of the United States were obtainable from Alien Registration (Smith Act passed June 28, 1940) because foreign-born Japanese were not eligible for naturalization at this time, but data on US-born citizens who identified as Japanese were only available from the 1940 Census. There had been calls for relaxation of census privacy laws since 1939 and the Second War Powers Act (passed March 27, 1942, relevant parts repealed March 31, 1947) allowed release of data on individuals to government agencies for purposes of prosecution of war. The restriction on release of aggregate data that could be used to identify individuals was violated earlier. Franklin Carter, who worked on domestic intelligence for President Roosevelt, asked for 1940 Census detailed tables for Japanese citizens and for Japanese American citizens for five Pacific states in November 1941—before Pearl Harbor. By November 9, the Census Bureau had completed the requested tabulations. It is not completely clear exactly what table data on small geographic areas were released to help identify Japanese Americans for evacuation to the War Authorities, but it is clear that both kinds of data were released and were key in evacuation planning and implementation. Much of this book is implicitly concerned with the actions for which Census personnel could be blamed. The bulk of the blame for Census Bureau actions lies with their leadership. There had been proposals to weaken census data protections as early as 1939, which were generally opposed by Census personnel, including the Director. The Director was one of only two political appointees. Willam Austin was Census Director and a defender of census data privacy. Clyde Capt was appointed Director in 1941. He had no background in statistics or census taking. Capt was squarely in the group favoring the maximal use of census data to support the war effort. After the Second War Powers Act was passed, the Census Bureau had to surrender requested information. The carrying out of the evacuation and deplorable conditions of incarceration were not the Bureau's fault. However, for many years after WWII, the Census Bureau denied having released information on individuals. Only in 2000, Census Director Kenneth Prewitt publicly apologized for the Census Bureau's role in the internment of Japanese Americans in WWII. And only in 2007, Anderson and Seltzer definitively showed that there had been release of data on individuals. The decades of denial is reminiscent of the Tuskegee Study, which infected African American men with syphilis to study the course of the disease beginning in 1932. The study continued until 1972, when its existence was revealed, but it was not until 1997 that President Clinton issued an official apology. These two terrible incidents resulted in some good, albeit decades later. Reactions to Census Bureau involvement in the Japanese American incarceration led to stronger data privacy rules than had existed before WWII. Reactions to the Tuskegee Study led to the Belmont Report and subsequent protections for human subjects in research. Yet, this book is timely and sobering in the current climate, where debates about data privacy and inter-agency data sharing are again center stage in the US context. Meanwhile global shifts away from censuses and toward linked administrative data streams and biometric samples, as well as the wider data revolution and the advent of big data, mean digesting the lessons of this study is critical to defending privacy protection and safeguarding human rights.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A Method in Our Madness: Experiences With Seeking Local Knowledge

  Journal of Ethnobiology · 2023-03-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Methods of field work include (among others) frame elicitation, semistructured interviews, questionnaires, short interviews, depth interviews, walks, and visual documentation. These are discussed and evaluated here, with field experiences nuancing practice.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Sustaining Social Conflict

  2022-01-01

  bookSenior author

  <JATS1:p>This book examines the origins of genocide and mass murder in the everyday conflicts of ordinary people, exacerbated by special interests. We examine cases harming people simply because they are considered unworthy and undeserving—for instance, if they are dehumanized. We confine our attention to genocide, mass murder, large-scale killing motivated by hate or desire for gain, and fascism as an ideology since it usually advocates and leads to such killing. The book draws on social psychology, especially recent work on the psychology of prejudice. Much new information on the psychology of fear, hate, intolerance, and violence has appeared in recent years. The world has also learned more on the funding of dehumanization by giant corporations via “dark money,” and on the psychology of genocidal leaders. This allows us to construct a much more detailed back story of why people erupt into mass killing of minorities and vulnerable populations. We thus go on to deal with the whole “problem of evil” (or at least apparently irrational killing) in general, broadening the perspective to include politics, economics, and society at large. We draw on psychology, sociology, economics, political science, public health, anthropology, and biology in a uniquely cross-disciplinary work.</JATS1:p>

  PublisherDOI

• The Effects of Increases in Computing Power on Demographic Analysis Over the Last 50 Years

  IEEE Annals of the History of Computing · 2022-10-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This anecdote discusses the relationship of changes in computer power to demographic analysis over the past 50 years, based onmy work as a demographer in that time. Increases in processing power, and the growing complexity of software that this increased power enabled, opened new opportunities for researchers, but the greater ease of computing sometimes led them to be sloppy. Increase in computing power and development in statistics also led to tradeoffs between data usefulness and confidentiality.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• 905-P: Modifiable and Nonmodifiable Risk Factors for Acute Complications of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) in Adolescents

  Diabetes · 2021-06-01

  article

  Aim: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and severe hypoglycemia (SH) are preventable, life-threatening complications of T1D, associated with morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. We examined incidence rates (IR) and risk factors for DKA and SH in a contemporary cohort of teens with T1D followed prospectively at 2 US pediatric diabetes centers.Methods: Data were collected by EHR review and parent-youth interview quarterly for 18 months in 301 adolescents, aged 13-17 at baseline, with T1D for 6+ months, and a wide range of A1c (6.5-<13%). Outcomes were IR of DKA leading to ER visit or hospitalization and SH with altered consciousness and/or needing assistance (enteral or parenteral) for recovery.Results: The sample (50% male, 22% non-white) had a mean±SD age 15.0±1.3 years, T1D duration 6.5±3.7 years, and A1c 8.5±1.1%; 59% pump-treated. DKA IR was 9.3/100 person-years; SH IR was 42.6/100 person-years. Many diabetes management factors were associated with higher IR of DKA and SH (Figure). Non-modifiable demographic and family factors associated with DKA and SH included non-white ethnicity, lower parent education, public insurance, and lower household income (p<.0001-<.05).Summary: IR of DKA and SH remain high in teens with T1D. Recognized modifiable (glucose monitoring [possibly by CGM] and A1c) and non-modifiable socio-demographic factors can be targeted to reduce rates of acute complications.View largeDownload slideView largeDownload slide DisclosureM. D. Ivanova: None. L. K. Volkening: None. B. Anderson: None. L. M. Laffel: Consultant; Self; AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, Dexcom, Inc., Dompe, Insulogic LLC, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Laxmi Therapeutic Devices, LifeScan, Lilly Diabetes, Medtronic, Provention Bio, Inc.FundingNational Institutes of Health (R01DK095273, P30DK036836); JDRF (2-SRA-2014-253-M-B)

  PublisherDOI

• Author response for "Psychosocial Outcomes in Young Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Participating in Shared Medical Appointments"

  2021-03-20

  peer-reviewOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Cortisol activity partially accounts for a relationship between community socioeconomic position and atherosclerosis

  Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2021 · 7 citations

  • Internal medicine
  • Medicine
  • Endocrinology
  PublisherDOI

• Point-of-Care Ultrasound in Anesthesia Care: New AANA Practice Document Adopted by AANA Board of Directors.

  PubMed · 2021-02-01 · 2 citations

  article

  Perioperative pulmonary aspiration (PPA) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. During anesthesia, airway reflexes become depressed, placing patients at risk of PPA. Gastric ultrasonography (GUS) can be used to qualitatively differentiate between solids, liquids, and empty gastric contents. The purpose of this study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of GUS in identifying gastric contents after participants were randomly assigned to consume 1 donut, drink 360 mL of water, or remain fasted (n=60 each group). Ultrasonography was performed by a blinded scanner, and qualitative findings were recorded by 2 sonography examiners and the primary scanner. Findings from the water group included a sensitivity of 95% to 100% and specificity of 87.5% to 90% for identification of liquids. Interrater reliability results yielded an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)=.781 for the solid group; ICC=.950 for the fluid group; and ICC=.761 for the fasted group. Statistically significant differences were found for the effect that body mass index classifications had on sensitivity and specificity of GUS for predicting gastric content. Results of this study demonstrated that GUS is highly sensitive, specific, and reliable with low false-positive and false-negative rates in the identification of fluid gastric content.

  Publisher

• Research Guides: Nursing: Find Data & Statistics

  2020-07-29

  libguides1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

• Research Guides: Nursing: AMA Style

  2020-07-29

  libguides1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

Recent grants

• NIH Grant P30HD010003

  NIH · $13.1M · 2001

• NIH Grant R01HD019915

  NIH · $1.3M · 1993

Frequent coauthors

• Brian D. Silver

  40 shared

• Laura N. Anderson

  McMaster University

  27 shared

• E. Berlin

  Agricultural Research Service

  26 shared

• Rebeca Barroso

  24 shared

• M.J. Pallansch

  United States Department of Agriculture

  23 shared

• Cornelia M. Borkhoff

  Hospital for Sick Children

  18 shared

• Jonathon L. Maguire

  St. Michael's Hospital

  18 shared

• Judith P. Rooks

  18 shared