Spring Issue | May 2025

President’s Letter: Coming Together

My mission in this month’s newsletter is clear – to convince you to join us at the PAPOR conference this year (August 14-15th).

As many of you know, PAPOR is in the middle of a trial period with our annual conference. PAPOR’s annual conferences date back to the 1980s and had its start rotating locations in both southern and northern California. Then for many years, the annual conference was held in San Francisco in December. But after hearing from our members about the difficulty of the timing and location, PAPOR council has decided to go back to the original vision of the conference and alternate locations to better serve our community. For the first time in over a decade, we are traveling to San Diego this year and holding the conference on August 14-15th at the Bahai Resort hotel. Our conference chairs are busy putting together an amazing agenda and the call for papers is out.

Long-time PAPOR members understand how special our conference is but let me try to explain it to those who are maybe new to our organization or haven’t attended a conference. Unlike other organizations’ conferences, the PAPOR conference is held in a single room where we all get to listen and learn from each other. This smaller setting also allows for more networking opportunities and creates an environment where people actually get to know each other. I’m sure many of you can attest to fond memories of chatting and laughing with fellow PAPOR members, who may now be considered friends, at a past conference. I have benefited from this experience and want this for all of you!

At a time when scientific research is under attack, we are very fortunate that our PAPOR membership is stronger than ever. We are a growing organization with a mission to create an environment that encourages collaboration and the highest quality research methods. Coming together to embrace this is a core tenet of our organization and why I am proud to be a PAPOR member.

If it’s been a while since you attended a PAPOR conference or if you have never attended, I would strongly encourage you to think about joining us in 2025. Not to mention, we may be the only chapter holding our conference on a boat (more details on that to come)! We understand that the current environment means that many of us are facing travel restrictions and limited funding, but I can assure you that your conference chairs are doing their best to make sure that the conference benefits are well worth the costs. In the meantime, if you have any questions about the conference please do not hesitate to reach out.

I look forward to seeing you all in San Diego in August!

Ashley

2025 PAPOR Annual Conference Details

Thursday, August 14 – Friday, August 15, 2025

Bahia Resort Hotel, San Diego, California

Student Paper Competition

Our annual announces student paper competition is now open. We welcome 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.

Entries will be judged by a panel of survey professionals and public opinion researchers from PAPOR’s executive council.

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

Students can ask questions and submit papers by email to studentpaper@papor.org.

AAPOR Survey Practice Special Issue on Cross-cultural and Multilingual Research

The recent publication of a new Special Issue of Survey Practice on Cross-cultural and Multilingual Research may interest our PAPOR community. Contributed by 42 authors across 18 organizations, this issue brings together 15 articles, including 14 research papers, an in-brief note, and an “Interview the Expert” piece with past AAPOR President Frauke Kreuter. The articles present empirical studies, real-world applications, and methodological innovations, offering best practices and practical guidance for conducting surveys across languages and cultures.

The Special Issue is organized around four thematic areas:

1. Low- and Middle-Income Countries

2. U.S. Latinos/as

3. Survey translation practices

4. Advancements in methods and evaluations

As with all Survey Practice content, this issue is fully open access. You can read the complete collection, including an editorial introduction by Guest Editor Mandy Sha and Eva Aizpurua.

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