CHICAGO, April 16, 2014 — Leading research methodologist Paul J. Lavrakas, PhD, recently joined NORC at the University of Chicago as a senior fellow. Lavrakas is a research psychologist who served as vice president and chief methodologist for Nielsen Media Research from 2000 to 2007. He is a former professor of journalism and communication studies at Northwestern University and The Ohio State University. He was the founding faculty director of the Northwestern University Survey Lab and The Ohio State University Center for Survey Research. Lavrakas was elected and served as the 2012-2013 President of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, the world’s oldest professional organization devoted to public opinion research and survey research quality.

“I am extremely pleased to be a senior fellow at NORC,” said Paul Lavrakas. “I have worked with the organization in the past and have long respected the staff and the high-quality research they produce. I look forward to collaborating with many of NORC’s highly skilled researchers for the betterment of their clients’ projects and for the advancement of social science research methodology.”

A prolific author, Lavrakas wrote the book, Telephone Survey Methods, and many handbook chapters on telephone survey methods. He is the editor and author of the Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods, co-editor and chapter co-author of Advances in Telephone Survey Methods, co-editor and chapter co-author of Online Panel Research: A Data Quality Perspective, and co-author of a forthcoming book on applied qualitative research methods. Lavrakas also is lead editor on three books about election polling, the news media, and democracy, as well as co-author of four editions of The Voter’s Guide to Election Polls.

“We are lucky to have such a talented and accomplished research methodologist on our team,” said Dan Gaylin, president of NORC at the University of Chicago. “Paul will help us explore new and evolving methods for data collection, such as multimode, mobile, internet, social media, administrative, and others.”

At NORC, Lavrakas will conduct methodological research and will also collaborate on scientific contributions for the field of survey research. This work includes designing experiments on survey research projects on topics such as conversational interviewing, collecting data using sensor technology, and improving response rates on multimode surveys.

“Our organization’s highest priority is providing high-quality data and analysis to decision-makers and the public. Experts like Paul are essential to the continual improvement of our work,” said Kennon Copeland, senior vice president and director of Statistics and Methodology at NORC at the University of Chicago. “Our clients and their programs will benefit from his broad knowledge and experience with methodological research.”

Paul J. Lavrakas was awarded his PhD in applied social psychology and his MA in experimental social psychology from Loyola University of Chicago. He also earned a BA in general social sciences from Michigan State University.