Welcome to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Program in Survey Research and Methodology and the UNL Gallup Research Center.
SRAM is officially affiliated to the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Business Administration. As appropriate for a strongly interdisciplinary program, our faculty have backgrounds in Statistics, Survey Science, Sociology, Cognitive Psychology, Marketing, Political Science, Linguistics, and Educational Psychology. We are thus ideally situated to meet the needs of students interested in working in a wide range of public, academic, and private sector organizations.
The Survey Research and Methodology program offers MS and PhD programs as well as a Certificate Program.
The Gallup Organization also offers a special Fellowship opportunity at the UNL Gallup Research Center and supports scholarships for promising applicants to SRAM degrees.
Clarissa's AAPOR Conference Experience
Recent SRAM graduate Clarissa Steele had the opportunity to volunteer at the AAPOR Annual Conference held in Chicago this past May. Here she shares a bit about her experience:
“Volunteering at the AAPOR conference is a great way for students to learn more about our professional organizations and meet those in the field. I volunteered at AAPOR both my first and second year. Both years I helped out by counting attendees in sessions, which helps AAPOR determine what topics are of most interest to its members. Volunteers can be given a variety of activities such as directing attendees to their sessions, staffing the information desk, or even moderating a session. I really enjoyed my volunteer experiences at AAPOR; I met the AAPOR volunteer coordinator, of course, and I also had the opportunity to contribute to an organization that supports students.
“I recommend SRAM that students volunteer at MAPOR and AAPOR. To get involved at MAPOR, contact the Conference Chair or Co-Conference Chair of the annual meeting to find out what there is to do. At MAPOR student volunteers may have conference registration fee paid for them. This is not the case at AAPOR, but there can be greater variety and challenge in the things volunteers do at AAPOR simply because it is a much larger venue with more attendees.”
NSF Grant
SRAM Professor Allan McCutcheon (at left) and colleagues Bob Belli, Kristen Olson, Jolene Smyth and Leen-Kiat Soh (Computer Science & Engineering), have received a National Science Foundation Census Research Network (NCRN) grant in the amount of more than $2.9 million for their proposal titled “Reducing Error in Computerized Survey Data Collection.” Their research will focus on improving survey designs/instruments while enhancing data quality by reducing both interviewer and respondent burden. Collaborations among the Survey Research and Methodology Program, the Gallup Organization and AbtSRBI Inc. will be critical to accomplish the proposed goals and objectives. This unique cohort ensures that the proposed project will be carried out with optimal efficiency and quality.
Watch a video of the grant announcement at celebration, hosted at the Gallup Organization's headquarters in Omaha, here.More information about this and other NCRN grants can be found online at: http://www.census.gov/NCRN/
Exchange Students
The Survey Research and Methodology program (SRAM) and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven's (KUL) program in Quantitative Analysis in the Social Sciences have had a student exchange program since 2001. Students from each university spend a semester in the program of the other university, giving them the opportunity to attend potentially different courses from those offered at home and experience quite a different academic setting for a semester.
http://lstat.kuleuven.be/masterBologna/QASS/index.htm
During the spring 2011 semester, SRAM hosted two exchange students from Belgium: Cecil Meeusen and Cameron Stark. After a whirlwind of emails and paperwork, both arrived in Lincoln safely, a little nervous, but keen to begin the semester.
About Cecil:
Cecil did her undergraduate and graduate in political science with a major in Belgian politics and political research at the Catholic University of Leuven. In 2011 she did an extra masters - in Belgium called 'manama' - in Brussels to specialize in social statistics and survey research (Master of Quantitative Analysis in the Social Sciences). Cecil says, “The exchange program with the University of Nebraska was a wonderful opportunity for me to get to know the country, the culture and the language. I have always been fascinated by the USA.”
About Cam:
Growing up in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, he became the Lincoln Stars' #1 fan upon arriving in Nebraska. He completed his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at the University of British Columbia, where he participated in an exchange program at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. Last spring he earned his Master of Arts in Political Science and Social Statistics at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec where he worked as a Research Assistant at the Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship. He came here to deepen his understanding of survey research and to explore the American Midwest.
SRAM MS Student Receives MAPOR Fellows Paper Award
This year the MAPOR Fellows debuted a second student paper competition category focusing on survey research methodology thanks to generous funding from Paul Lavrakas and Allan McCutcheon. SRAM MS student Brian Wells was presented the award for his paper entitled “Accounting for Nonresponse in the Nebraska Behavioral Health Consumer Survey.”
Brian wrote the paper in conjunction with his assistantship at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Behavioral Health last year. His paper illustrated how nonresponse adjustments can potentially improve estimates in their annual consumer survey. Professor Kristen Olson served as his faculty mentor on the paper. “It was a shock and an honor to win this award. I know there were a lot of good student presentations this year, but I am proud to represent the University of Nebraska, and the SRAM program, with winning the award.”
