Westat

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Westat, Incorporated

Type	Employee-owned
Founded	Rockville, Maryland (1961)
Headquarters	Rockville, Maryland
Key people	Joseph A. Hunt, President Peter R. Gill, VP, Accounting Contracts James Smith, CTO
Industry	Contract research
Products	WesVar Blaise
Revenue	$381.60 million USD (2003) [2]
Website	www.westat.com

Maryland Governor Robert Leroy Ehrlich and Westat President Joeseph A. Hunt during a meeting on July 20, 2004 [1]

Westat is an employee-owned research corporation centered in Rockville, Maryland. It serves most agencies of the United States Government as well as many other businesses, foundations, universities, and state and local governments. Since its founding in 1961, Westat has been one of the foremost contract research organizations in the United States.

The word Westat is a contraction, coming from the phrase "Western Statistics."

1 Capabilities
2 Program areas
3 Statistical software
- 3.1 WesVar
- 3.2 Blaise
4 Employee ownership
5 Sites
6 External links

[edit] Capabilities

Westat has conducted studies on a diverse range of topics:

Health conditions and expenditures
Academic achievement and literacy
Medical treatments and outcomes
Exposure assessments
Program participation
Employment and earnings
Respondent knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors

They have the expertise and capabilities to perform major survey research projects, including:

Study design and analysis
Methodology
Survey data collection
Information technology
Web evaluation and design.

[edit] Program areas

Westat's program areas include health and medical studies; clinical trials; employment, training, and national service; alcohol, tobacco, and other drug studies; housing; energy; education; science and technology; transportation; environmental protection; military human resources; customer satisfaction surveys; organizational and personnel studies; and consulting services and marketing research.

[edit] Statistical software

Westat has developed two statistical software products, WesVar and Blaise.

[edit] WesVar

WesVar is a software package that computes estimates and replicate variance estimates for data collected using complex sampling and estimation procedures. Complete information is available at the WesVar page.

[edit] Blaise

Westat is the distributor in the U.S. and Canada for the Blaise family of software, a complete survey processing system. Complete information is available at the Blaise home page.

[edit] Employee ownership

Westat is an employee-owned corporation. All employees can earn a share of ownership through the Westat Employee Stock Ownership Plan. Since the introduction of the plan in 1977, the value of employee holdings has grown with our success as a research organization and with the growth of staff. Stock earned through the Employee Stock Ownership Plan supplements other fringe benefits, which include a 401(k) plan, health and life insurance, and vacation, holiday, and sick time. Advanced degrees and professional development activities are supported by reimbursement for approved college courses and for attendance at professional meetings.

[edit] Sites

Westat's headquarters is in Rockville, Maryland. The city hosts 1,800 employees in eight buildings on Research Boulevard and one on West Montgomery Avenue. An additional 1,100 employees are located in research offices and telephone research center facilities.

Research offices:

Telephone interviewing, field operations, and survey data processing: