Recapping 2019 must start with JSM 2019, at which the Survey Research Methods Section (SRMS) sponsored 13 invited, 18 topic-contributed, seven contributed, four speed, and two poster sessions, along with five roundtables. SRMS also offered two webinars in 2019: “Multi-level Models and Poststratificiation” (Yajuan Si) and “Use of Census Data” (Nancy Bates); this latter webinar was offered jointly with the Government Statistics Section and Washington Statistical Society.
Also during 2019, SRMS conducted its periodic review of the SRMS charter. A proposed revision addressing redundant information will be subject to approval by members during the 2020 annual election.
During 2020, SRMS will be awarding an outstanding section service award every three years as part of an ASA initiative. A request for nominations, due by March 1, has been distributed to members.
JSM 2020 will be in Philadelphia, August 1–6, with the theme Everyone Counts: Data for the Public Good. Much of the work we do in SRMS focuses on reducing total survey error (all the way from data collection through dissemination), and one important component to achieving this goal is to demonstrate the data we collect and the estimates we provide are not only useful but essential for our society to make fact-based decisions that ultimately serve the public good.
In 2017, the ASA launched the Count on Stats campaign to highlight all the ways in which the US federal statistical agencies work to provide accurate estimates related to the economy, agriculture, health, crime, etc. As we transition into a new decade, we continue to face response rate and big data challenges, with questions arising about how we can use the abundance of one form of data to combat the shortage of another. How do we continue to provide valid and reliable data for the public good in an ever-changing survey climate?
SRMS is working to provide members with multiple opportunities to explore these questions further. In addition to an array of webinars throughout the year and pertinent invited and topic-contributed sessions at the Joint Statistical Meetings, SRMS is a sponsor for the International Conference on Establishment Surveys VI, to be held in New Orleans June 15–1. Look for the section’s inserts in the conference bags; SRMS sponsorship is also funding student travel awards and a student contest award.
In January and July, SRMS publishes newsletters with all the latest SRMS news.
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