Ernest L. Cowles is professor emeritus of sociology at California State University, Sacramento. He served as the director of the Institute for Social Research for 8 years and continues as a senior research fellow. Before becoming director of the Institute for Social Research, he directed research centers at the University of Illinois for 10 years. Beyond his academic work, he has served as a public agency administrator and consultant both within the United States and internationally. In 2015, he was presented with the Distinguished Alumni Award by the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University where he received his PhD in criminology.
Edward Nelson is professor emeritus of sociology at California State University, Fresno. He received his PhD in sociology from UCLA specializing in research methods. He was the director of the Social Research Laboratory at California State University, Fresno, from 1980 to 2013 and has directed more than 150 surveys. He taught research methods, quantitative methods, critical thinking, and computer applications. He has published books on observation in sociological research, and using SPSS, a statistical computing package widely used in the social sciences.