CHICAGO, Feb. 2, 2023 – NORC at the University of Chicago is pleased to announce the launch of the Center for Panel Survey Sciences. Scholars affiliated with the Center will research and develop best practices on panel survey methodologies, and serve as a resource for academics, researchers, and other organizations as they design and implement novel research projects. NORC experts say the Center, a first-of-its-kind resource, will address the growing demand for new, more inclusive panels and methodologies across understudied populations.

“High-quality probability-based research panels across a diverse array of populations are critical to measuring and understanding social, economic, and health behaviors and opinions,” said David Dutwin, senior vice president and the director of the Center. “The new Center for Panel Survey Sciences at NORC will fill a methodological void with much-needed resources and expertise in studying and understanding populations that, to date, may have been overlooked.”

According to leaders at NORC, the Center will develop and provide researchers with a range of panels—from the general population to highly specialized panels of small groups including young adults, Asian Americans and other races and ethnicities, STEM workers, and people ages 50 and older. Additionally, NORC experts at the Center will assist researchers and organizations that partner with the Center on how to develop rigorous methodologies that use the panels.

By exploring new research methods and sharing access to tailored survey panels, NORC experts say, the Center will make survey research and methodologies more equitable, rigorous, and accurate.

America is home to a myriad of races, ethnicities, generations, educational backgrounds, and many other demographic characteristics. The Center will support the efforts of many organizations to increase equity in how surveys are conducted.

“The social sciences and, specifically, surveys are critical to understanding where inequalities may lie within our society, but biases may have previously been baked into the field’s methodologies. This Center aims to create methodologies and survey panels free of bias,” said Ipek Bilgen, principal research methodologist and the deputy director of the Center.