The Future of Survey Research - Jon Krosnick, Frederic O. Glover Professor in Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor of Political Science, Stanford University

Date & Time Sep 19 2016 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Speaker(s)
Jon Krosnick, Frederic O. Glover Professor in Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor of Political Science, Stanford University
Audience Restricted to Princeton University

“The Future of Survey Research” will be addressed at a public discussion to be held at 4:30 p.m.Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, at Robertson Hall, Bowl 016. This event is open to Princeton University students, faculty and staff only. A Valid PU ID must be presented upon entry into Bowl 016.

The discussion, “The Future of Survey Research,” will be presented by Jon Krosnick, Frederic O. Glover Professor in Humanities and Social Sciences and affiliate of the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University. The talk will be co-sponsored by the Survey Research Center, the Woodrow Wilson School and the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics. The event will mark the kickoff celebration of the Survey Research Center’s 2017 25th anniversary.

Recent headlines around the world have been blaring: “Polls are failing us”, “Why are the polls getting it wrong in so many countries?”, and “British Election’s Other Losers: Pollsters”.  Is survey research on the verge of death? Will survey data collection be replaced by analysis of “big data”? This presentation will offer a review of evidence on the accuracy of all types of surveys and explore whether accuracy has changed over time and is tied to the survey methods employed.  Special attention will be devoted to the dramatic transformation in the collection of survey data that has occurred during the last 15 years: from random samples interviewed face-to-face or by telephone years ago to internet data collection today worldwide, mostly from samples of people who have not been scientifically sampled from populations. The presentation will offer surprising and reassuring findings about the future of the field of survey research and practical advice about how to maximize accuracy and how to educate survey sponsors about the value of survey measurements.   

Krosnick’s research focuses on three major areas: (1) attitude formation, change, and effects, (2) the psychology of political behavior, and (3) the optimal design of questionnaires used for laboratory experiments and surveys, and survey research methodology more generally. In 2014, Dr. Krosnick received the Award for Exceptionally Distinguished Achievement from the American Association for Public Opinion Research. This year he also received the Nevitt Sanford Award from the International Society of Political Psychology for his contributions to the field of political psychology.