President’s Letter: Building Community

Happy 2025 PAPOR members! It has only been a few months into the new council year, but so much is happening that I am thrilled to share with you. You will find many more details on the recent and upcoming happenings throughout this newsletter, so please be sure to keep reading.

Speaking of newsletters, a big thanks to Yioryos Nardis for our updated newsletter format. We hope that this new format makes the newsletter easier to read, regardless of your device, and leads to an overall better user experience. Yioryos is just one of the many committed individuals who we have serving on council this year, please be sure to check out the profiles of your new council members. Also, I want to extend a huge heartfelt thank you to our past-president Danell Brewster who led us last year during a tremendously successful year for the organization. PAPOR, as an organization, has successfully bounced back from the COVID-19 pandemic with strong current financials and membership numbers.

PAPOR has been an important community to me since I began at KFF more than 8 years ago, and I am honored to be helping lead the organization this year. The annual PAPOR conference was one of my first experiences at my new job, and it was during that conference that I knew I had found a similar group of dedicated researchers who were willing to ask the hard questions to help advance the understanding of our fields. Building community is a central component of the work of PAPOR council and one great way to do this is with our annual conference. This year’s PAPOR Conference, under the leadership of Samantha Finley and Laura Wagstaff, is shaping up to be a truly memorable experience. The conference is scheduled for August 14-15, 2025 in San Diego, and we are thrilled to be bringing the conference down to southern California this year. We understand that for many of us it is a difficult time to travel for work, but hopefully the accommodations put together by your conference chairs will facilitate an easy trip and a perfect reason to come together with colleagues. We are also very committed to making the conference accessible to our student participants, including our student paper award.

Moving the conference to a different location each year, with regular stops in S.F., is a direct result of the membership survey that many of you completed last year. Council has also organized many other community-based gatherings in various cities based on the feedback from our membership. This was an initiative launched by former PAPOR president Bianca DiJulio more than five years ago, and I am glad to see that this is one PAPOR tradition that is still going strong. Check out the pictures from the most recent gatherings, and please contact Special Events Chair Christian Schimpf if you are interested in helping organize a gathering in your city.

We are also committed to virtual events, especially since we have members in all of the western U.S., as well as many other states and even some living internationally. Earlier this month, we had our PAPOR Short Course “Building a Better Researcher” led by Mechelle Timmons, of MSG. Mechelle, a former PAPOR president, captivated the audience on this webinar that focused on mail-based survey best practices and methodologies. Bob Davis has been instrumental in bringing these events to our PAPOR membership and is also the mastermind behind our Speaker Series: Profiles in Research. If you are interested in participating in one of our upcoming virtual events, do not hesitate to reach out.

All of these great events are just a few reasons to become a PAPOR member. Please remember that PAPOR can only bring these events to our members at reduced rates because of the continued support from our PAPOR sponsors. Please check out the wonderful organizations that helped make last year so successful! We are also incredibly thankful for our members. If you haven’t renewed membership or aren’t currently a member, please think about joining our wonderful community!

Hope to see many of you online or in-person in the coming months!
Ashley

2024 PAPOR Membership Survey: Key Takeaways

Please find a few highlights from our latest membership survey. Data are based on 34 complete responses collected between October 10 and November 19, 2024. Roughly 20% of those had been PAPOR members for less than 3 years, 40% between 3 and 10 years, and 40% accumulated more than 10 years of membership. 41% of respondents are survey research providers, 15% government researchers, 15% academics, 9% retired, 6% researchers at nonprofit organizations, 3% political consultants, and 3% students, with the rest working in UX and industry research.

Many thanks to all who took the time to participate in our annual survey and provided valuable feedback and suggestions. There is a wealth of insights and even more detailed answers on various open-ended questions from our members – more than can be presented here. PAPOR Council will take all your comments into account when planning future events.

What our members consider to be the greatest benefits of their PAPOR membership

Overall, conference-related aspects rank highest. Respondents were most satisfied with the value of experiencing a broad range of research topics (88%), the quality of that research (85%), the opportunity to present their own research (81%), and professional networking opportunities at the annual conferences (79%).

Additionally, respondents valued the opportunity to develop personal relationships and friendships at PAPOR events like local happy hours (83%), the professional prestige of PAPOR (80%), the annual cost of membership (77%), and the “Profiles in Research” speaker series initiated in 2021 (75%).

What is most important to our members in relation to the annual conference

When asked about factors relevant to attending our annual conference, respondents primarily valued the opportunity to learn about survey methodologies (97%), establish new relationships during networking sessions (79%), listen to the presentations of colleagues in the field (69%), participate in training workshops (64%), and an affordable price (63%).

What participants of our 2024 conference in San Francisco liked the most

Roughly four in ten respondents (38%) attended the conference in San Francisco in August. They particularly valued the conference venue itself (KFF), including the check-in process, technical equipment, and support from the local team onsite, the plenary panel, the Profiles in Research session (all 100%), and the conference registration cost (92%).

What topic priorities our members have in relation to future training workshops and short courses

Respondents indicated higher interest in advanced topics of survey methodology (91%) than basic topics (82%), public opinion about current events (77%) or elections (59%). The highest ranked topics were new methods of data collection, such as via apps (94%), multi-mode surveys and data merging (88%), responsive survey designs, best practices for reporting public opinion research, as well as AI and survey methods (all 85%).

What our members prefer in terms of future conference locations and timing

Variety is important! When it comes to future conferences, most respondents (68%) preferred to rotate between a few locations while one in four (23%) preferred to change location every year. A summer conference was generally favored over meeting in early December (when it was typically held in the past). Among the most preferred locations were San Francisco (18 votes), San Diego (15), Seattle (11), Portland (11), and Los Angeles (9).

Short Course: Building a Better Researcher
Mail-Based Surveys & Survey Invitations

On March 5th, Mechelle Timmons led a PAPOR Short Course on mail-based surveys and invitations to web surveys. In today’s evolving landscape of survey research, mail-based surveys and invitations to web surveys remain a critical tool for gathering high-quality data. Mechelle shared several tips and tricks based on her 20+ years of expertise in designing and fielding mail surveys.

The session delved into the practical strategies and considerations that can boost success with mail-to-web and mail-to-mail surveys. From choosing between postcards and letters to selecting the optimal postage type, the session explored how design, timing, and USPS postal logistics impact response rates, data quality, data collection speed, and fielding costs.

Mechelle Timmons, former CEO of DataForce and now part of Marketing Systems Group, is a former PAPOR president and active AAPOR member.

Welcoming New PAPOR Council Members

Secretary

Cameron Raynor is the founder and principal of RA2/EveryAnswer. Cameron’s work focuses on reaching survey respondents in small geographic areas and hard-to-reach populations. He has led projects across North America, the UK, Australia, and beyond. Previously, Cameron worked as a digital campaign consultant helping public affairs organizations understand their audiences, manage their data and optimize their digital advertising.

Associate Conference Chair

Laura Wagstaff, MPH is a project manager and health services researcher with a decade of experience in public health and health communication science. She supports qualitative and quantitative research projects for state and federal clients. She is skilled in multimode data collection, including managing questionnaire development, data collection systems, and analysis and reporting. Prior to joining NORC, Laura designed and executed internal and external communications strategies for federal health agencies, international non-profits, academic institutions, and private corporations.

Councilor-at-Large, Webmaster

Jenny Benz is vice president of Public Affairs & Media Research at NORC at the University of Chicago and deputy director of The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. She currently serves as the project director for AP VoteCast and oversees NORC’s polling relationships with media outlets including AP, Wall Street Journal, the LA Times, and Washington Post. Jenny is a political scientist whose research focuses on public opinion and elections, survey methodology, and media attitudes. She has managed and conducted survey research on a variety of topics including the public’s priorities and attitudes toward government, trust in news and attitudes toward journalism, and race and ethnicity. Jenny is active with the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), PAPOR, and NEAAPOR. She has served as the co-chair of the AAPOR Transparency Initiative, membership chair for PAPOR, and events chair for NEAAPOR, as well as serving on several committees. Jenny has lived on the Big Island in Hawaii since 2017.

Councilor-at-Large, Special Events Chair

Christian Schimpf, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia’s Behavioral Public Policy Lab. Christian conducts research to improve access to public services, using a mixture of surveys, survey experiments, and field experiments. His work has been published in the American Political Science Review and the British Journal of Political Science, among others. Before joining the Behavioral Public Policy Lab, Christian worked as a Research Advisor at the City of Edmonton, leveraging his research expertise and methodological expertise to help policymakers navigate some of the trickiest issues in recent years. Christian received a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Mannheim (Germany).

Councilor-at-Large, Student Representative

Zhaowen Guo is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Better Government Lab, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University. Her research explores how information and technology shape public opinion, political behavior, and government accountability through survey experiments, causal inference, and computational social science.

Save the date!

2025 PAPOR Annual Conference

Thursday, August 14 – Friday, August 15, 2025

Bahia Resort Hotel, San Diego, California

The Annual PAPOR Conference features two days of professional growth and networking in a collegial, friendly setting that also provides ample opportunity for good conversation and fruitful collaboration. We also recognize the next generation of opinion researchers.

The deadline for abstract submissions is July 6, 2025.

Additional details about the submission process and hotel reservations will be circulated by email and available on the PAPOR website in the coming weeks. See you in San Diego!

Student Paper Competition

Our annual conference also welcomes entries from students and early-career professionals that employ surveys and opinion research in any discipline including political science, communications, psychology, sociology, public policy, and marketing. In this opportunity, student entrants will network with industry professionals, strengthen their resumes for job and graduate school applications, and compete to win a cash award and travel to the annual PAPOR conference.

Eligible papers should focus on survey methods, public opinion, and market research, be authored by undergraduate and graduate students currently attending or recently graduated from colleges and universities in PAPOR’s geographic region, and be no more than thirty pages.

Students can ask questions and submit papers by email to studentpaper@papor.org. Entries will be judged by a panel of survey professionals and public opinion researchers from PAPOR’s executive council.

The deadline for student paper entires is July 6, 2025. 

PAPOR Social Events

In February PAPOR organized a public opinion research happy hour in San Diego for local PAPOR and AAPOR members.

PAPOR Sponsors

SSRS is a full-service market and survey research firm with a dedicated team of critical thinkers. They have genuine enthusiasm for their work and a shared goal to connect people through research. SSRS solutions are fit for purpose, and the firm is known for its experience with multimodal data collection. The team provides accountability-driven thoughtfulness and confidence in the reliability of data rooted in truth. They conduct research in the US and more than 40 countries worldwide.

 From groundbreaking longitudinal work like the General Social Survey to quick-turnaround studies that use our AmeriSpeak panel, NORC pursues hundreds of projects in any given year. In the process, we develop innovative research methods and analytical tools, advance principles of scientific integrity and collaboration, and support evidence-based policymaking and program development.

Davis Research is a boutique survey research firm specializing in the execution of complex research projects. Since opening its doors in 1970, the focus has been to provide clients with an experienced and well equipped research team to help them answer their business questions.  Led by brothers Bill and Bob Davis, Davis Research employs over 125 research professionals, making it large enough to handle every aspect of a project in-house, but small enough to give it the personal attention it deserves. Clients include individual research professionals, large research organizations, and internal research departments of small and large corporations. Davis Research has experience in providing services for industries including automotive, social science, financial services, food services, public health, political polling, and public opinion.

The Harris Poll is a global consulting and market research firm that strives to reveal the authentic values of modern society to inspire leaders to create a better tomorrow. It works with clients in three primary areas: building twenty-first-century corporate reputation, crafting brand strategy and performance tracking, and earning organic media through public relations research. One of the longest running surveys in the U.S., The Harris Poll has tracked public opinion, motivations and social sentiment since 1963, and is now part of Stagwell, the challenger holding company built to transform marketing.

 

Fellows

Marketing Systems Group invests in people and technology, expanding existing and developing new products, services, and solutions in anticipation for future needs of the survey research community. MSG’s GENESYS product line offers industryleading samples that provide the greatest representation and accuracy for improved data quality. ARCS® offers best-in-class panel management software to help clients efficiently and profitably recruit, engage, retain, and survey respondents. MSG’s PRO-T-S® predictive dialing system improves data collection operations and interviewer productivity without sacrificing data quality.

PAPOR Profile