Tim Liao is Professor of Sociology & Statistics. His research interests include historical/comparative sociology, demography, and methodology. He is a former Deputy Editor of The Sociological Quarterly, (1992-2000) and the current Editor of Sage's Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences series. He served on the council of the ASA Methodology Section (1998-2001) and on the council of the North America Chinese Sociological Association (2000-2002). He has been on the editorial board of Sociological Methods & Research since 1994 and on the editorial board of Sociological Methodology since 2003. He is the Chair-Elect of the Methodology Section of the American Sociology Association from… August 2007 to August 2009.