JPSM Holds Two Symposia to Celebrate its Tenth Anniversary

To celebrate its tenth anniversary, the Joint Program in Survey Methodology at the University of Maryland sponsored two distinguished lectures the last month.  The first one, held on April 23, examined standardized versus flexible interviewing. The featured speakers were Jack Fowler (Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Survey Research at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and President of the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision-Making), Michael Schober (Professor of Psychology at the New School for Social Research), and Nora Cate Schaeffer (Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison).  The second, held on May 19, featured Donald Rubin (John L. Loeb Professor and Chairman of the Department of Statistics, Harvard University) as the main speaker. The title of his talk was “Valid Survey Inference via Imputation Requires Multiple Imputation.” John Eltinge (Associate Commissioner for Survey Methods Research at the Bureau of Labor Statistics), Roderick Little (Richard D. Remington Collegiate Professor of Biostatistics, Professor of Statistics, and Senior Research Scientist at the University of Michigan), and Fritz Scheuren (Vice President for Statistics at NORC and ASA President-Elect) led a lively discussion of Rubin’s paper. 

JPSM began offering classes in the summer of 1993, and completed its tenth year last spring. The class of 2004 will be its tenth graduating class. This year marks two additional milestones in the history of the program.  First, the 100th student graduated from the program this spring.  In total, 103 students have completed their Master’s degrees at JPSM. Second, by the end of the summer, the first Ph.D.s in Survey Methodology ever will be awarded to two doctoral students — Kennon Copeland and Sunghee Lee. Aside from doctoral and Master’s degrees, JPSM offers certificate and citation programs in survey methodology and sponsors a summer internship program for undergraduates. 

To commemorate JPSM’s establishment, Roger Tourangeau, the Director of the Joint Program, announced five Founders Awards at the April 23 symposium. The awards honored five individuals — Hermann Habermann, Robert Groves, Graham Kalton, Stanley Presser, and Katherine Wallman — for their contributions to the program.  Tourangeau described Hermann Habermann as “a tireless advocate for a program of advanced training in survey methodology” during his stint as Chief Statistician at the Office of Management and Budget, who shepherded the program “from its initial conception to its current reality.”    

Bob Groves, Stanley Presser, and Graham Kalton were honored for their work on the proposal to the National Science Foundation that led to the creation of the Joint Program.  From the outset, JPSM was a partnership between the University of Maryland, the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center, and Westat. Stanley Presser led the effort at the University of Maryland and became the first director of the program; Bob Groves took the lead for the University of Michigan and succeeded Presser as director of JPSM. Graham Kalton played the lead role at Westat. Tourangeau described their contributions to the program as “indispensable” and noted that they created “the blueprint that we still follow today and that has been the model for similar graduate programs at the University of Nebraska and at the University of Michigan.”  

The final Founders Award honored Katharine Wallman, who, in her role as Chief Statistician of the United States, played a critical part in developing the contract through which JPSM currently receives federal support. Tourangeau thanked Wallman “for her unwavering support for the program.”  

JPSM is funded by a consortium of federal agencies through a contract with the Census Bureau and receives additional funding through cost-sharing agreements with the University of Maryland, the University of Michigan, and Westat.

Rubin's, Eltinge's and Little's presentations for the celebration along with Rubin's Anthrax Example.

Fowler's and Schober's presentations for the celebration.  Roger Tourangeau's opening comments.

Some pictures of the reception after the talks.