Message from the Director
It is clear, more than ever, good data collection has a scientific base, and if applied correctly will lead to better results -- in public opinion, social science research, public policy, to name just a few.
Our faculty member Katherine Abraham recently led the Murray-Ryan Commission which studied how best to strengthen and expand the use of administrative and other process data to evaluate the effectiveness of federal programs and tax expenditures. It is such initiatives, as well as the fast increase in digital information (often referred to as Big Data), that lead JPSM to add a third track in Data Science beginning in Fall 2017. At the core of what JPSM students learn is a careful look at data and errors in the data generating process that will serve our students well, no matter where they work or what their titles will be.
JPSM graduates have jobs throughout the survey research industry and have had a particular impact on the Census Bureau and the Federal Statistical System. We invite you to learn more about JPSM and the exciting new programs we have to offer.
Frauke Kreuter
Director & Professor
Joint Program in Survey Methodology
University of Maryland
About the Program.
Founded in 1993, the Joint Program in Survey Methodology is housed in The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Maryland. To date, it has more than 300 graduates working in government agencies, academic settings, and private survey research firms. Its award-winning faculty is drawn from the University of Maryland, the University of Michigan, Westat and other organizations.
JPSM's mission is to educate the next generation of survey researchers, survey statisticians, and survey methodologists. To that end, we offer a Ph.D. program, an M.S. in survey methodology, an online M.P.S. degree, and certificate and citation programs. We also offer a program of short courses for professionals and a Summer Fellows program for undergraduates.
We have both full-time and part-time students, many of them drawn from local agencies (such as the Bureau of the Census, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Center for Health Statistics, the National Center for Education Statistics, the National Agricultural Statistical Service) and survey organizations (including Westat, RTI International, the Gallup Organization, and Mathematica). Many of our full-time students are placed in summer internships at these and other organizations.
It is no small matter to build an organization that is a collaboration of two educational institutions, one commercial organization, and faculty in several other locations, designed to serve thirteen large statistical agencies but also dozens of other agencies with statistical functions.
Since its inception, JPSM has increased the quality of technical staff in the Federal Statistical System and is enriching the field of survey statistics and methodology itself. Our faculty has historically been in the vanguard of research in survey methodology and strives to continue that leadership into the future.
