World Association for Public Opinion Research

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World Association for Public Opinion Research


Formation 1947
Type Professional association
Membership > 450
President Michael Traugott
Website http://www.unl.edu/wapor/

The World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) is an international professional association of researchers in the fields of communication and survey research. It is a member organization of the International Social Science Council.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

Established in 1947 at the Second International Conference on Public Opinion Research held in Williamstown, Massachusetts[2][3] as the World Congress on Public Opinion Research, the association acquired its current name in 1948, at the Third International Conference on Public Opinion Research.[4] In 1953, it became the sole nongovernment consultant organization to UNESCO in the field of polling.[2]

Its current president is Michael Traugott (University of Michigan) and the vice president is Thomas Petersen (Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach).[5] Among the former presidents of WAPOR are Juan Linz, Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, Robert Worcester and Seymour Martin Lipset.[6]

[edit] Membership

Over time, WAPOR's membership has grown and become more international. In 1956, roughly a decade after its founding, the association had 158 members from about 20 countries;[2] by 1962, these figures had risen to approximately 200 and more than 30, respectively.[7] In 1970, WAPOR had more than 300 members from 41 countries.[8]

As of 2007, the association has over 450 members from research institutes and universities in over 50 countries.[9]

[edit] Activities

WAPOR sponsors the International Journal of Public Opinion Research, a social science journal published by Oxford University Press.[10]

The association also holds an annual conference in North America in even-numbered years, in cooperation with the American Association for Public Opinion Research, and in Europe in odd-numbered years, in cooperation with the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research.[11]

Since 1981, WAPOR offers the Helen Dinerman Award – created to honour sociologist Helen Dinerman – to individuals who have made "significant contributions to survey research methodology".[12] Prior recipients include social scientists Philip Converse, Louis Guttman,[13] Roger Jowell,[14] Elihu Katz,[15] Juan Linz, Seymour Martin Lipset,[16] Robert K. Merton,[17] Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann,[18][19] Sidney Verba,[20] Robert Worcester, and Daniel Yankelovich.[21]

[edit] Influence

Richard Morin, former polling director of The Washington Post, described WAPOR as "the leading professional association of pollsters working outside the United States".[22] Herbert Weisberg, a political scientist at The Ohio State University and former president of the Midwest Political Science Association,[23] further credited WAPOR with contributing to the internationalization, and thereby the professionalization, of the field of survey research.[24]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ International Social Science Council. World Association for Public Opinion Research. Retrieved on 2007-11-03.
  2. ^ a b c Dodd, Stuart C. (Spring 1957). "The World Association for Public Opinion Research". Public Opinion Quarterly 21 (1): 179–84. doi:10.1086/266698. 
  3. ^ Hart, Clyde W., and Don Cahalan (Spring 1957). "The Development of AAPOR". Public Opinion Quarterly 21 (1): 165–73. doi:10.1086/266696. 
  4. ^ Rokkan, Stein (ed) (1979). A Quarter Century of International Social Science: Papers and Reports on Developments, 1952-1977, 279. OCLC 7575815. Retrieved on 2007-11-02. 
  5. ^ Executive Council. World Association for Public Opinion Research. Retrieved on 2007-11-02.
  6. ^ History. World Association for Public Opinion Research. Retrieved on 2007-11-03.
  7. ^ Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 22, Americana Corporation, 1965, pp. 774, <http://books.google.com/books?id=C_lLAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22World+Association+for+Public+Opinion+Research%22&q=%22World+Association+for+Public+Opinion+Research%22&pgis=1>. Retrieved on 2 November 2007 
  8. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 15, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1974, pp. 214, ISBN 0852292902, <http://books.google.com/books?id=OMgqAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22World+Association+for+Public+Opinion+Research%22&q=%22World+Association+for+Public+Opinion+Research%22&pgis=1>. Retrieved on 2 November 2007 
  9. ^ Membership Information. World Association for Public Opinion Research. Retrieved on 2007-11-02.
  10. ^ Oxford Journals: Social Sciences – Int. Journal of Public Opinion Research. Oxford Journals (2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  11. ^ Conferences and Seminars. World Association for Public Opinion Research. Retrieved on 2007-11-02.
  12. ^ Awards and Prizes. World Association for Public Opinion Research. Retrieved on 2007-11-02.
  13. ^ "Louis Guttman". World of Sociology. (2005-2006). Thomson Gale. Retrieved on 2008-01-01. 
  14. ^ Annual Research Report, 2005-2006 (PDF) 9. Department of Sociology, City University London. Retrieved on 2008-01-01.
  15. ^ Dennis, Everette E., and Ellen Wartella (eds) (1996). American Communication Research: The Remembered History. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 195. ISBN 978-0-8058-1744-7. Retrieved on 2007-12-31. 
  16. ^ "Hoover Senior Fellow Seymour Martin Lipset Dies", Business Wire, 2007-01-03. 
  17. ^ Dillman, Don A.. "Helen Dinerman and the Connecting of Science with Practice1" (PDF). Newsletter (Second Quarter 2006): 7–10. World Association for Public Opinion Research. 
  18. ^ Salmon, Charles T., and Chi-Yung Moh (1994). "The Spiral of Silence: Linking Individual and Society Through Communication", in J. David Kennamer: Public Opinion, The Press, and Public Policy. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 146. ISBN 978-0-275-95097-2. Retrieved on 2007-11-02. 
  19. ^ Viswanath, K. (1996). "Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann (1916– )", in Nancy Signorielli: Women in Communication: A Biographical Sourcebook. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 303. ISBN 978-0-313-29164-7. Retrieved on 2007-11-02. 
  20. ^ "2004 Dinerman Award Winner: Dr. Sidney Verba" (PDF) . Newsletter (Second Quarter 2004): 4–5. World Association for Public Opinion Research. 
  21. ^ Daniel Yankelovich. Who's Who at Public Agenda?. Public Agenda. Retrieved on 2007-11-02.
  22. ^ Morin, Richard. "Crackdown on Pollsters", The Washington Post, 1998-01-19. Retrieved on 2007-11-03. 
  23. ^ Dr. Herbert F. Weisberg. OSU:pro. The Ohio State University. Retrieved on 2007-11-03.
  24. ^ Weisberg, Herbert F. (2005). The Total Survey Error Approach: A Guide to the New Science of Survey Research. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 11. ISBN 978-0-226-89127-9. Retrieved on 2007-11-03. 

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