We connected with industry peers and discussed methodological advances, the evolving role of AI and LLMs in survey research, and timely topics, including elections, politics, and health policy.
Christian Kline, Methods and Data Science Associate, presented on hybrid online panel survey design in a session moderated by Luis Tipan, Director of Statistical Weighting.
- The paper demonstrated how the SSRS Encipher® hybrid calibration consistently reduces bias compared with demographic-only weighting, validating these findings across diverse topics including health, politics, sports, and social science research.
Molly Fisch-Friedman, Associate Research Director, presented on data from the 2024 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey of Older Adults, conducted and overseen by SSRS.
- The presentation demonstrated that using questions that implicitly measure mental health by asking about experiences like social isolation and distress, in addition to those that explicitly use the term mental health, can help identify older adults who are less likely to seek mental health treatment but more at risk of loneliness and more likely to report poor health.
Nicole Blackburn, Survey Methods and Data Science Intern, presented on linking the SSRS Opinion Panel with the L2 voter-file.
- The analysis showed that 76% of active panelists could be matched to the L2 voter file, with self-reported voter registration emerging as the strongest predictor of a successful match.
- Despite some variation in linkage rates across demographic groups, the matched sample closely mirrored the U.S. registered voter population, supporting the representativeness and quality of voter-file based research conducted by SSRS.
Kristen Conrad, Senior Vice President, Policy & Polling Division, and Vanessa Harrell, Research Group Director, also attended. They connected with clients, colleagues, and fellow researchers, exchanged perspectives on the changing survey research landscape and shared recent developments from SSRS.
