O’Muircheartaigh Gives Distinguished Lecture
Roger Tourangeau
C
olm O’Muircheartaigh gave the
sixth distinguished lecture in a
series sponsored by the Joint
Program in Survey Methodology (JPSM) at
the University of Maryland on April 11,
2008. The title of his talk was “Survey
Design a la Carte: Survey Research in the
21st Century.”
The talk provided a comprehensive
overview of the state of survey research in
the 21st century. It noted that, following its
introduction in the late 19th century, the
social survey reached a relatively stable state
by the middle of the 20th century. By the
beginning of the 21st century, however, the
survey had encountered serious challenges
Colm O’Muircheartaigh (left), the featured speaker at JPSM’s April 11 distinguished lecture, with
to its claims as the pre-eminent source of discussants Deborah Griffin (center) and Bob Groves (right)
scientific data about society. The current
challenges of sample design, coverage, and
of surveys and suggestions for the future. O’Muircheartaigh is a professor in the
nonresponse have their roots in the devel-
As the lecture was simultaneously broadcast Harris School and senior fellow at the
opment of the survey enterprise. The talk
via the web, a video is available at www. National Opinion Research Center (NORC).
presented an interpretation of the history
jpsm.umd.edu. His research encompasses survey sample
design, measurement errors in surveys, cogni-
tive aspects of question wording, and latent
variable models for nonresponse. He is prin-
cipal investigator on the National Science
We thank the following JSM 2008 Sponsors for their financial support:
Foundation’s Internet Panel Recruitment
Survey and co-principal investigator on NSF’s
Data Research and Development Center and
the National Institute on Aging’s National
Social Life Health and Aging Project. He
is also responsible for the development of
methodological innovations in sample design
for NORC’s face-to-face surveys in the
United States.
O’Muircheartaigh joined the Harris
School from the London School of Economics
and Political Science, where he was the first
director of the Methodology Institute, the
center for research and training in social sci-
ence methodology, and a faculty member
of the Department of Statistics since 1971.
He also taught at a number of other institu-
tions, having served as a visiting professor at
the Universities of Padova, Perugia, Firenze,
and Bologna. Since 1975, he has taught at
the Summer Institute of the University of
Michigan’s Institute for Social Research.
JPSM offers graduate training in survey
methodology and survey statistics, leading
to master’s and doctoral degrees. In addition,
it offers certificate and citation programs for
nondegree students. n
38 AMSTAT NEWS AUGUST 2008
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