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NORC Awarded Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Contract to Conduct the National Immunization Survey

Press Release

CHICAGO, Aug. 21, 2012 — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded a contract to NORC at the University of Chicago to conduct a major research effort, the National Immunization Survey. The five-year award renews work NORC has done on the survey since 2005.

“NORC is honored to have the opportunity to provide support to the CDC and the public health community through its work on the National Immunization Survey,” said NORC Executive Vice President Missy Koppelman, NORC’s project director for the NIS. “These data are used every day by national, state, and local public health officials to protect the health and well-being of our children.”

The National Immunization Survey (NIS) is a critical resource for public health officials working to reduce the outbreak of childhood diseases that can be prevented through vaccination. It provides data that help national state and local public health officials monitor immunization rates for recommended vaccines and to develop strategies to encourage sound vaccination practices and mitigate the potential for outbreak of childhood diseases.

The survey supports the CDC in allocating resources for the federally funded Vaccines for Children Program, designed to facilitate children’s access to vaccines, regardless of where they live or their ability to pay. In addition, the NIS provides important measures of breastfeeding practices among mothers of infant children.

Immunizing children against infectious diseases has been a major success story for the nation’s public health systems. According to information provided by the CDC, over the course of the past century, the United States has reduced the incidence of measles, pertussis, and diphtheria by more than 98 percent.

The NIS role in advancing the quality of survey research

NORC’s stewardship of the NIS has brought about important advances in survey research. The NIS is a large telephone survey designed to screen and interview households with young children and teens. In recent years, however, almost 35 percent of households have replaced the traditional landline phone with a cell phone, introducing challenges to NORC and the CDC in ensuring that the National Immunization Survey represents the entire U.S. population.

“NORC’s ability to tackle the question of how to sample and interview cell phone households and ensure that NIS data continue to represent the U.S. population has enabled the CDC  to maintain the survey’s reputation as the gold standard source for immunization rates,” said NORC Executive Vice President Kirk Wolter. “The size and complexity of the NIS provides a superb platform for advancing survey and statistical research.”

The value of the NIS sampling frame goes well beyond the survey itself. It supports a number of surveys sponsored by the National Center for Health Statistics, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, the Administration for Children and Families and other agencies, including the National Survey of Children’s Health, the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs, the National Survey of Adoptive Parents, the Survey of Adult Transition and Health, and the Survey of Pathways to Diagnosis and Services.

“NORC is honored to have the opportunity to provide support to the CDC and the public health community through its work on the National Immunization Survey. These data are used every day by national, state, and local public health officials to protect the health and well-being of our children.”

Michele Nachbar

Executive Vice President

“NORC is honored to have the opportunity to provide support to the CDC and the public health community through its work on the National Immunization Survey. These data are used every day by national, state, and local public health officials to protect the health and well-being of our children.”

National Immunization Surveys

Learn About the Project


About NORC at the University of Chicago

NORC at the University of Chicago conducts research and analysis that decision-makers trust. As a nonpartisan research organization and a pioneer in measuring and understanding the world, we have studied almost every aspect of the human experience and every major news event for more than eight decades. Today, we partner with government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world to provide the objectivity and expertise necessary to inform the critical decisions facing society.

www.norc.org

Contact: For more information, please contact Eric Young at NORC at young-eric@norc.org or (703) 217-6814 (cell).