The World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) is an

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that professio ...

researcher Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...

s in the field of survey research. It is a member organization of the

International Science Council The International Science Council (ISC) is an international non-governmental organization that unites scientific bodies at various levels across the social and natural sciences. The ISC was formed with its inaugural general assembly on 4 July 20 ...

History

Established in 1947 at the Second International Conference on Public Opinion Research held in

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in the northern part of Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolit ...

as the World Congress on Public Opinion Research, the association acquired its current name in 1948, at the Third International Conference on Public Opinion Research. In 1953, it became the sole nongovernment consultant organization to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

in the field of polling. Its current

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

is Timothy P. Johnson (

University of Illinois Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the University of Illinois sy ...

) and the vice president is

Robert Chung Dr. Robert Chung ( zh, t=鍾庭耀, j=Zung1 Ting4-jiu6) is a Hong Kong academic. He is president and chief executive officer of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, an independent institute since May 2019 and the successor organisati ...

( Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

). Among the former presidents of WAPOR are

Juan Linz ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, ...

, Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann,

Robert Worcester Sir Robert Milton Worcester, (born 21 December 1933) is an American-born British pollster who is the founder of MORI (Market & Opinion Research International Ltd.) and a member and contributor to many voluntary organisations. He is a well-kno ...

and

Seymour Martin Lipset Seymour Martin Lipset ( ; March 18, 1922 – December 31, 2006) was an American sociologist and political scientist (President of the American Political Science Association). His major work was in the fields of political sociology, trade union o ...

Membership

Over time, WAPOR's membership has grown and become more international. In 1956, roughly a decade after its founding, the association had 158 members from about 20 countries; by 1962, these figures had risen to approximately 200 and more than 30, respectively. In 1970, WAPOR had more than 300 members from 41 countries. As of 2021, the association has approximately 500 members from research institutes and universities in over 60 countries on six continents.

Activities

WAPOR sponsors the '' International Journal of Public Opinion Research'', a social science journal published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. Annual conference are held in a three-year cycle: with

American Association for Public Opinion Research The American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) is a professional organization of more than 2,000 public opinion and survey research professionals in the United States and from around the world, with members from academia, media, gover ...

(AAPOR) in North America (Toronto 2019), in connection with either European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR) or ESRA in Europe (Lisbon 2017), and in the third year somewhere else (Morocco 2018). This arrangement permits WAPOR members to meet with academic, commercial, and government researchers from the main centers of survey research around the globe. Our most recent annual conferences were held virtually due to the pandemic in 2020 and during the dates of November 2–6, 2021. AAPOR and ESOMAR are considered "allied associations." Since 1981, WAPOR offers the Helen Dinerman Award – created to honour sociologist Helen Dinerman – to individuals who have made "significant contributions to survey research methodology". Prior recipients include social scientists

Philip Converse Philip Ernest Converse (November 17, 1928 – December 30, 2014) was an American political scientist. He was a professor in political science and sociology at the University of Michigan who conducted research on public opinion, survey research, an ...

Louis Guttman Louis (Eliyahu) Guttman (February 10, 1916 – October 25, 1987; he, לואיס (אליהו) גוטמן) was an American sociologist and Professor of Social and Psychological Assessment at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, known primarily for ...

, Roger Jowell,

Elihu Katz Elihu Katz (Hebrew: אליהוא כ"ץ, 21 May 1926 – 31 December 2021) was an American and Israeli sociologist and communication scientist, usually associated with uses and gratifications theory. He is known for his work with Paul Lazarsfel ...

Robert K. Merton Robert King Merton (born Meyer Robert Schkolnick; July 4, 1910 – February 23, 2003) was an American sociologist who is considered a founding father of modern sociology, and a major contributor to the subfield of criminology. He served as th ...

, Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann,

Sidney Verba Sidney Verba (May 26, 1932 – March 4, 2019) was an American political scientist, librarian and library administrator. His academic interests were mainly American and comparative politics. He was the Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor at ...

, and Daniel Yankelovich.

Influence

Richard Morin, former polling director of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', described WAPOR as "the leading professional association of pollsters working outside the United States". Herbert Weisberg, a

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

and former president of the Midwest Political Science Association, further credited WAPOR with contributing to the internationalization, and thereby the

professionalization Professionalization is a social process by which any trade or occupation transforms itself into a true "profession of the highest integrity and competence." The definition of what constitutes a profession is often contested. Professionalization ten ...

, of the field of survey research.

References

External links