2023 Annual Conference

48th Annual Conference

Held November 17-18, 2023 at Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown!

“Of Intersections and Opportunities: Exploring the Potentials of Public Opinion Research”

As our research landscape continues to change and evolve since the pandemic, MAPOR hopes to broaden our pursuit of collaboration in the survey and public opinion research disciplines. To continue our learning about the changing research landscape, our conference theme asks the MAPOR community to consider the innovations and changes that have occurred in survey research in recent years. Specifically, we encourage abstract submissions on topics that cut across multiple disciplines and research contexts, such as user/respondent-centered survey design, usability of web or mobile surveys, and the ethical use of public opinion and survey data.

More broadly, we welcome abstract submissions on all facets of research related to public opinion, communication, survey research, and their methodologies. Topics may include, but are not limited to: questionnaire design; interviewers’ role in data collection; respondent behaviors; respondent recruitment for hard-to-reach populations; nonresponse or data quality assessment; total survey error; emerging technologies or methods for data collection; use of administrative records or alternative data sources for surveys; machine learning and data science; politics and public opinion; social media and public opinion; public opinion on social, economic, and political issues; cross-cultural research; and qualitative and mixed-method research techniques.

2023 Conference highlights:

Friday morning short course:
The Mother of Invention: Design of the General Social Survey from 2020-2022 and Beyond

René Bautista, NORC at the University of Chicago

Friday midday keynote address:

Bridging the Gap between Theoretical Rigor and Applied Research Goals: Reflections of a Survey Researcher in the Tech Industry

Greg Holyk, Google

Saturday morning pedagogy hour:

Broadening the Horizon: Research and Career Development Opportunities for Social and Behavioral Scientists in the Research Industries

Gina Walejko, Google

Erin Spottswood, Allstate/Portland State University

Caroline Smith, Morning Consult

Yu-Han Jao, Lundbeck

Register Here!Final conference programHotel reservation available here


MAPOR 2023 Conference Call for Participation in Industry Idea Exchange

The Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research Conference Committee is hard at work planning MAPOR’s

48th Annual Conference

Held November 17-18, 2023 at Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown!

Call for Participation: Industry Idea Exchange Session

Extended to August 18th, 2023!

As a multidisciplinary organization, MAPOR values and considers collaboration as the bedrock of our profession and research fields. Besides the innovative research trend learning opportunity from our regular thematic sessions, MAPOR is planning an Industry Idea Exchange session during the conference to enhance our pursuit of collaboration beyond survey and public opinion research communities.

The Industry Idea Exchange session seeks to provide an engaging opportunity for connecting with organizations that conduct research such as marketing, consumers or users, audience, patients, or other social, behavioral, and data sciences research in applied contexts. Topics for the Industry Idea Exchange session may include, but are not limited to, promotion of cutting-edge research toolkits, talent acquisition for research organizations, hiring trends in labor market, and organizational branding.

MAPOR welcomes and encourages researchers, hiring and research managers, career advisors and recruiters, and job seekers working in any applied research field to participate in the Industry Idea Exchange session in our 2023 annual conference for scouting talents, identifying collaboration opportunities, and expanding professional networks.

For participation inquiries, please contact the 2023 MAPOR conference chair, Y. Patrick Hsieh at: abstracts@mapor.org using the subject line “[Industry Idea Exchange Participation] by 11:59 pm CDT on Friday, August 18, 2023.” In your inquiry, please briefly describe the discussion topics you and your organization may want to discuss with other practitioners in the session. The conference committee will orient the outreach session based on the interest and focus of the participants.

MAPOR 2023 Conference Call for Abstracts

The Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research Conference Committee is hard at work planning MAPOR’s

48th Annual Conference

Held November 17-18, 2023 at Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown!

Call for Abstracts

Extended to August 18th, 2023!

The Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research’s annual conference welcomes abstract submissions on any topic related to public opinion research, communication, or survey research methodology. This year, we are accepting submissions for the following types of presentations: papers, methodological briefs, posters, and panels of papers. We are particularly interested in papers that relate to our conference theme:

“Of Intersections and Opportunities: Exploring the Potentials of Public Opinion Research”

As our research landscape continues to change and evolve since the pandemic, MAPOR hopes to broaden our pursuit of collaboration in the survey and public opinion research disciplines. To continue our learning about the changing research landscape, our conference theme asks the MAPOR community to consider the innovations and changes that have occurred in survey research in recent years. Specifically, we encourage abstract submissions on topics that cut across multiple disciplines and research contexts, such as user/respondent-centered survey design, usability of web or mobile surveys, and the ethical use of public opinion and survey data.

More broadly, we welcome abstract submissions on all facets of research related to public opinion, communication, survey research, and their methodologies. Topics may include, but are not limited to: questionnaire design; interviewers’ role in data collection; respondent behaviors; respondent recruitment for hard-to-reach populations; nonresponse or data quality assessment; total survey error; emerging technologies or methods for data collection; use of administrative records or alternative data sources for surveys; machine learning and data science; politics and public opinion; social media and public opinion; public opinion on social, economic, and political issues; cross-cultural research; and qualitative and mixed-method research techniques.

Submissions: Please visit the link: https://cvent.me/nwQGaq to submit your abstracts, with a limit of 300 words or fewer. In addition to a title and abstract, you will be asked to provide the name, institutional affiliation, and email address of all authors. The same author’s name may appear as the first author on a maximum of two submissions. To allow for blind review, please remove all personally identifying information from the abstract’s text before submission.

Note to student authors: If all authors are students who will be enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program at the time of the conference, you may submit your paper to the MAPOR Fellows Student Paper Competition. Please visit mapor.org for details. When submitting a student paper to the competition, the student submitter will be asked to provide the name and e-mail address of a faculty mentor. The faculty mentor will be asked to send an email of 25 words or fewer endorsing the paper when the full paper is submitted.

Panel Proposals: Panels focus on a common theme and include 4 or 5 participants. A panel proposal requires a description of 300 words or fewer discussing the issues to be addressed and their importance. Also, submissions should list the potential panelists, their institutional affiliations, email addresses, and tentative titles of presentations. Panels related to the conference theme are especially encouraged.

Submission Information: All abstracts must be posted no later than 11:59 pm CDT on Friday, August 18, 2023. Accepted papers sharing a theme will be scheduled during a paper session. Papers with more individualized topics will be scheduled during a poster session. MAPOR considers both types of presentation equally valuable. All submitters will be notified via e-mail by September 23 of their abstract’s acceptance status. For questions or problems with the submission process, please contact the 2022 MAPOR conference chair, Y. Patrick Hsieh at: abstracts@mapor.org.

Travel Grants: The MAPOR Council will be offering two types of support grants for the 2023 Annual Conference: the MAPOR Student Support Grant and the MAPOR Colleague Grant. More details on these awards can be found on mapor.org.

2022 MAPOR Fall Webinar Series

Military Populations Research Best Practices Webinar

Amanda Barry
Director of Military Workplace Climate Research
Fors Marsh

January 27th at 11:30am to 12:30pm CST

Title: Military Populations Research Best Practices

Presenters: Amanda Barry

Duration: 60 min

Many researchers have challenges with surveying and engaging sample members, but this can be even more challenging for active-duty military, families, and veterans.  During this webinar, we will discuss the best practices for conducting research with this unique population.

About the presenters:

Amanda Barry is the director of Military Workplace Climate Research at Fors Marsh where she oversees a research portfolio that leverages qualitative and quantitative methods to examine different facets of workplace culture and climate with a key focus on gender relations and equal opportunity within the military. Her research spans a wide range of Department of Defense populations, including members of the active duty and reserve components, military service academy cadets and midshipmen, DOD civilians, and Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) personnel.

October 27 Webinar

Considering Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Research

Justine Bulgar-Medina, Ph.D.
Research Methodologist at NORC at the University of Chicago

October 27th, 12-1 pm central time

ADMISSION (Pandemic Special): 
$20 for non-members
$10 for MAPOR members
Free for student members

Register here

Please join us for an informative and interactive presentation on crafting questions to measure Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) in surveys. SOGI is measured in a variety of ways across surveys and research studies, but which SOGI question, or set of questions, is best for your study or target study population? Justine Bulgar-Medina, Ph.D. is a Research Methodologist at NORC and has dedicated much time and research to address this question. Justine will share her knowledge on the evolution of work on measurement error in SOGI populations in the MAPOR fall webinar on October 27th.

About Justine: In addition to her work at NORC, Justine also teaches courses in research methods and public policy at Northwestern.  Prior to joining NORC & Northwestern, Justine was a faculty member at Merrimack College where she taught courses in research methods, statistics, public policy and criminology. Justine completed her doctoral work in Sociology & Survey Research at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. Justine’s work focuses on looking at measurement error in surveys, especially measurement error in minority and multiple minority areas, with a focus on culturally responsive and inclusive approaches.  She has presented on these topics at several conferences (including MAPOR and AAPOR), as well as offered short courses for UNC’s Odum Institute.  Along with other researchers in the field Justine has been active in organizing AAPOR panels on SOGI populations.  

April 30 Webinar

Conducting Research in a Virtual Environment and What the Post-COVID “New Normal” Might Look Like for Qualitative Researchers

Andrew Stavisky
Assistant Director
Applied Research and Methods Group
US Government Accountability Office
Isaac Rogers
CEO, 20|20 Research
Chief Innovation Officer, Schlesinger Group

April 30th, 12-1 pm central time

ADMISSION (Pandemic Special): 
$20 for non-members
$10 for MAPOR members
Free for student members

Register here

Read More

Candidates for Office – 2021

We are pleased to present the candidates for 2021-2022 MAPOR Executive Council, shown in alphabetical order by position as follows (click each name for the candidate’s biography): 

Vice President/President Elect       

Justine Bulgar-Medina

David Sterrett

Associate Conference Chair  

Y. Patrick Hsieh

Benjamin Schapiro

Associate Secretary-Treasurer

Lindsey Witt-Swanson

As per Article IV: Section 2 of our bylaws “any group of at least twenty-five (25) members entitled to vote at any annual or special meeting of the members may nominate another candidate or candidates for office by so notifying in writing the President within twenty (20) days after the delivery, mailing or e-mailing of such names.” Please note that any candidate must be current AAPOR and MAPOR members and you should check that they are willing to serve. The deadline for adding candidates to the ballot is October 12, 2021.

The election will take place from October 29 – November 9, 2021. 

Hillary Hanson – Candidate for Associate Conference Chair

Hillary Hanson is the Assistant Director of the University of Chicago Survey Lab. She started her survey research career at the Survey Lab in 2011 as a project coordinator and currently specializes in web surveys and in planning, staffing, training, and monitoring progress for field studies. She especially enjoys the opportunity to train students in data collection methods and to introduce them to the field of survey research. Hillary has been a member of MAPOR since 2011 and appreciates the approachable nature of the conference and the opportunity to learn from other attendees who do similar work. She also regularly attends and presents at the International Field Directors and Technologies Conference (IFD&TC). Hillary received her BS in psychology from Iowa State University and completed the Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago.

Leah Dean – Candidate for Associate Conference Chair

Leah Dean is a survey scientist in the Survey Research Division at RTI International. Her expertise is in health surveys and health policy. She has served on the MAPOR Council and as a member of the MAPOR Conference Committee since 2020. She also serves as a member of AAPOR’s Transparency Initiative Committee. Leah earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Cincinnati, where she worked at the Institute for Policy Research prior to joining RTI International. She is also a member of the board of directors for the Red River Gorge Climber’s Coalition, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and conservation in the Red River Gorge region of Kentucky. Leah serves as secretary to the organization and assists in the planning and execution of their major fundraiser.