Newsletters - AAPOR

AAPOR 2016-2017 Executive Council Election Results

The AAPOR 2016-2017 Executive Council election closed on April 2 and approximately 32 percent of eligible AAPOR members voted, including first-time participation by our student members.

Getting ready for May – Volunteer!

May is a big month for AAPOR – the annual conference AND lots of opportunities for new volunteers to get involved with AAPOR!Getting ready for May – Volunteer!

AAPOR 2016 Conference Approaching Fast

It has been a year unlike no other in the world of survey and public opinion research. New data gathering and analytical techniques continue to grow and develop at breakneck speed. The TCPA has impacted all who conduct telephone research. Perhaps the most interesting primary season on record has pollsters busier than ever. Shifting public sentiment on a range of issues are evolving quickly in an ever changing world. Challenges in measurement arise as the world gets ever more complex, and new opportunities to mine administrative and other big data open new paths of measurement. Given so many developments in so many corners of our field, what is a survey researcher to do?

Happy Spring!

We are just a few weeks from AAPOR’s Annual Conference in Austin, TX (May 12-15^th) and I know all of us are busy preparing for a great week of learning, sharing, and socializing with our colleagues. As part of my own preparation for the conference and giving this year’s Presidential Address, I recently finished reading ALL (yes, all) the past presidential addresses. Those of you who know me know that I am THAT kind of person – the kind who needs to read them all to make sure I didn’t miss anything!

The Bittersweet Process of Conference Submission Review

AAPOR has historically been a very welcoming conference. While there are exceptions, AAPOR has traditionally accepted about five of every six submissions (the five year average rejection rate being 16%). This year, however, we had an all-time high number of submissions. Adding to the challenge was strong feedback from our members that sessions with six papers was not as rewarding and effective as sessions with five (methodological brief sessions excepted).

We have several Transparency Initiative updates to report as we enter 2016:
AAPOR received a letter from the Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology (FCSM) indicating their interest in the Transparency Initiative and noting their support for our shared value of scientific openness. A link to this letter, which also outlines some of the federal statistical community’s transparency-related documents, is now available on the TI web page.

Behind the Scenes of AAPOR’s Executive Council Nomination Process

On February 15, the newest slate of candidates for AAPOR’s Executive Council will be released to the membership in advance of voting which begins in early March. I remember receiving a call back in 2007 from then Past-President Rob Daves informing me that I was being considered for office that year. I thought, “What an honor! That’s great! But how did that happen?” That year I had not “tossed my hat in the ring” myself, so what was the process for me receiving a nomination?

AAPOR ended 2015 with almost 2400 members – 2394, to be precise. But, with the website changes last year, we know less and less about you, our members. We are missing background information, such as demographics and industry sector, for about one-third of AAPOR members. We use this information to ensure we are serving all parts of our membership, to determine whether a diverse set of members are involved in different aspects of the organization, and to evaluate where we need to improve.

Election 2016: What it means for you and for AAPOR

By the time you are reading this, the first of the 2016 Presidential primaries will be over and the first round of media stories about “how did the polls do?” will be flying through your social media feeds. This is the official beginning of what promises to be 10 straight months of such stories and such focus. Even for those of us not involved in election polling, this period will bring heightened scrutiny and attention to all of our work. Your friends, your family members, and your clients will likely bring up the performance of the polls. If election polling is your bread and butter, you are even more attuned to the claims and complaints, and living in the crossfire of every journalist, pundit, individual with a Twitter account, and often the campaigns and the candidates themselves.