JPSM, Telephone Sampling, and COVID
Presented by Jim Lepkowski, Research Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan.
Discussant: Michael Brick, Senior Vice President, Westat.
The Joint Program in Survey Methodology is unique in the history of survey methods in the US and globally. The first part of the presentation is a brief tribute to the program and people who made JPSM what it is today. But JPSM and survey methods are also today being shaped by global forces. A case study in telephone sampling, examining early and later methods work, provides a basis for discussing recent uses of telephone sampling methods in times of rapid social and political change. Disease and war have pushed statistical agencies around the world to change data collection methods rapidly in response to extreme circumstances. In many instances, agencies seriously considered extensive use of telephones when traditional face-to-face methods could not be conducted. First time ventures in telephone surveys were often made in haste and with limited expertise, resulting subsequently in challenging estimation issues. Weights became remedies for the consequences of some of those designs. There are important implications of rapid design changes in response to global issues for the future of survey methods and how they are taught.
