BOSR Hosts Annual National Meeting of Academic Survey Research Organizations
The Bureau of Sociological Research hosted the 2019 Association of Academic Survey Research Organizations (AASRO) annual Director’s Meeting at UNL February 28th through March 2nd. The meetings brought 44 leaders of survey research centers from 31 universities from across the United States to the UNL campus for two days of presentations and discussions about operating university survey centers. Hosting the AASRO meetings at UNL was a unique opportunity to bring national visibility to BOSR, the Department of Sociology, UNL, and the Lincoln Community and to showcase the best of each of them.
The meetings kicked off Thursday, February 28th with an awards dinner and Keynote presentation at the Van Brunt Visitor’s Center. Peter Miller, Professor Emeritus at Northwestern University and formerly Senior Researcher for Survey Measurement at the U.S. Census Bureau, delivered the keynote presentation, titled “Relevance, Credibility, Trust”, in which he argued for the continued relevance of surveys in a world increasingly fixated on existing big data.
Friday and Saturday meetings took place at the Nebraska Champions Club and were devoted to discussion of new telephone call-blocking technologies, phone number spoofing, how to provide leadership at university survey centers, how to convey survey center value to university leadership, collaborative opportunities across AASRO member organizations, challenges specific to survey shops that conduct election polling, and how AASRO members meet their education missions on their campuses. The meetings ended with an informal tour of BOSR facilities in Oldfather Hall.
Between sessions and in the evenings, attendees were treated to some of Lincoln and UNL’s best treasures – locally made popcorn (Simply A-Maize-N Popcorn), UNL Dairy Store ice cream, coffee from The Mill Coffee and Tea, a Robbers Cave tour, Misty’s, and Blue Orchid, among other things.
* AASRO was established in 2008 to provide leadership in the pursuit of excellence and integrity in survey research conducted in academic settings. AASRO members are committed to methodological innovation, scientifically-grounded data collection practices, public dissemination of important survey research results, serving their colleges and universities, and educating the next generation of survey researchers.
