Past Conferences
53rd Annual Conference – 2019
52nd Annual Conference – 2018
51st Annual Conference – 2017
50th Annual Conference – 2016
49th Annual Conference – 2015
48th Annual Conference – 2014
47th Annual Conference – 2013
46th Annual Conference – 2012
45th Annual Conference – 2011
44th Annual Conference – 2010
Past Programs
Time/Date
10:45am-11:45am on Wednesday, 5/22/2019
Location
Toronto II
Facilitator
TBA, TBA
Only the cool kids stay for the final session of IFD&TC this year! Root on your fellow attendees in a Family Feud-inspired showdown, as they play for fame and bragging rights. Stay tuned for more details and the survey questions!
Time/Date
10:15am-10:45am on Wednesday, 5/22/2019
Refreshments served.
Time/Date
9:00am-10:15am on Wednesday, 5/22/2019
Location
Jackson
Facilitator
Ellen Malven, Jan Larson, Iowa State University - Center for Survey Statistics & Methodology (CSSM) | Iowa State University - Center for Survey Statistics & Methodology (CSSM)
Session Focus
During this roundtable discussion, small shops are invited to share the tools and tech that aide in their own operations, while also learning about new tools and tech used by other shops.
Time/Date
9:00am-10:15am on Wednesday, 5/22/2019
Location
Carmichael
Facilitator
Hillary Hanson, University of Chicago Survey Lab
Session Focus
This session will focus on systems and strategies to assess data quality and protocol standardization among interviewers.
Time/Date
9:00am-10:15am on Wednesday, 5/22/2019
Location
Tom Thomson
Facilitator
Kyle Fennell , NORC at the University of Chicago
Session Focus
For years, presenters and panelists at IFD&TC, AAPOR, and other conferences have worried about impact of decreasing survey participation and tight budgets on primary data collection efforts. Multimode data collection holds out the promise of better response rates, reduced cost, and other benefits. Join us for a session that will examine potential benefits and perils of implementing multimode data collection across a range of considerations, including project management, special respondent populations, and interviewers.
Time/Date
9:00am-10:15am on Wednesday, 5/22/2019
Location
Varley
Facilitator
Jessica Maleryn, NORC at the University of Chicago
Session Focus
Each year, survey researchers are asked to collect more types of non-survey data. This session will share details of implementing some of the most popular types of ancillary data collection such as physical measures, blood and microbiome samples, actigraphy, ecological momentary assessment, and sleep diaries.
Time/Date
7:30am-9:00am on Wednesday, 5/22/2019
Location
Toronto I
Continental breakfast served.
Time/Date
4:45pm-6:00pm on Tuesday, 5/21/2019
Location
Varley
Facilitator
Gina Cheung, UM-Survey Research Center (UM-SRC)
Session Focus
Join attendees with an interest in the technical aspects of survey research for a special roundtable discussion. The open format allows for a range of soft tech management topics and current events impacting survey center technical operations.
Time/Date
3:15pm-4:30pm on Tuesday, 5/21/2019
Location
Tom Thomson
Facilitator
Tim Sanders, American Society for Radiation Oncology
Session Focus
Browse the showcase tables and get a hands-on demonstration of hardware and software for data collection from those who develop and use it.
Time/Date
3:15pm-4:30pm on Tuesday, 5/21/2019
Location
Jackson
Facilitator
Jennifer Draude-Wilson, Darine Zaatari, NORC | NORC
Session Focus
This open discussion will allow participants to discuss challenges and solutions when fielding federally funded surveys. Topics may include service contract act (SCA), government shutdowns over the past decade, data privacy and security issues and achieving target response rates.
Time/Date
3:15pm-4:30pm on Tuesday, 5/21/2019
Location
Carmichael
Facilitator
Jaime Faus, University of Wisconsin Survey Center
Session Focus
Don't miss this lightning round on a wide range of technical innovations and strategies on topics including video interviews, electronic signatures, and monitoring methods.
Time/Date
3:15pm-4:30pm on Tuesday, 5/21/2019
Location
Toronto II
Facilitator
Ella Kemp, NORC at the University of Chicago
Session Focus
Presenters will focus on the latest improvements to contact materials and strategies, including using social media and text messages for respondent outreach and the effects of contact verification on response rates.
Time/Date
2:45pm-3:15pm on Tuesday, 5/21/2019
Refreshments served.
Time/Date
1:30pm-2:45pm on Tuesday, 5/21/2019
Location
Tom Thomson
Facilitator
Tim Olson, U.S. Census Bureau
Session Focus
Location data is playing an increasing role in the management of field survey operations. The presentations in this section demonstrate how geographic data can be used to detect falsification and maximize the productivity of field efforts.
Time/Date
1:30pm-2:45pm on Tuesday, 5/21/2019
Location
Jackson
Facilitator
Lew Berman, ICF
Session Focus
This panel will discuss two sets of challenges and solutions in center management.
Telephone based surveys typically use supervisory staff to live-monitor interviewers or manually review recordings for effective speech rate, properly reading a question, and accurately recording a response. General industry practice is to review 5-10% of all calls. However, these practices are labor intensive, subjective, and the evidence for this range of review is anecdotal. This panel will discuss current call center practices and new technical solutions for improving these practices.
Spam blockers are having an increasing impact on our ability to contact respondents by phone. Panelists will share research about spam blockers, how they affect centers with different telephone systems, and possible solutions to ensure your calls get through to study participants.
Time/Date
1:30pm-2:45pm on Tuesday, 5/21/2019
Location
Carmichael
Facilitator
Nick Schultz, University of Wisconsin Survey Center
Session Focus
Presenters will share valuable techniques in evaluating, recruiting & training new interviewing staff as well as the development of new fielding protocols.
Time/Date
1:30pm-2:45pm on Tuesday, 5/21/2019
Location
Toronto II
Facilitator
Christy Storey, A.L. Burruss Institute - Kennesaw State University
Session Focus
Incentives are an important tool for obtaining higher response rates in the world of survey research. This session will explore pre- and post-interview incentive strategies, including monetary and non-monetary incentives and experimental designs.
Time/Date
12:00pm-1:00pm on Tuesday, 5/21/2019
Location
Toronto I
Bring your RDD lunch ticket and join us for lunch.
Attendees are seated at tables according to the number drawn on their lunch tickets at check in. RDD lunch is a fun way to meet and get to know other attendees!
Time/Date
10:45am-12:00pm on Tuesday, 5/21/2019
Location
Jackson
Facilitator
Jeff Coburn, Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston, and Sandhya Bikmal, RTI International
Session Focus
The Section 508 standards have recently been revised and now incorporate WCAG guidelines. This workshop will focus on practical tests for the most common violations of WCAG Success Criteria that would specifically apply to web forms and surveys. While the talk will be on the more technical side, we will stay happily within the web browser, and feature some useful extensions, and away from command line or build tools. Key takeaways will be a better understanding of the guidelines; how they apply to surveys; and how to test for, and discover, the most common violations and issues.
Time/Date
10:45am-12:00pm on Tuesday, 5/21/2019
Location
Varley
Facilitator
Kelly Elver, University of Wisconsin Survey Center
Session Focus
Yearly roundtable for those involved in cost estimate and proposal writing.
Time/Date
10:45am-12:00pm on Tuesday, 5/21/2019
Location
Carmichael
Facilitator
Beverly Weidmer, RAND Survey Research Group
Session Focus
Presenters will share the latest on management tools, forecasting field production, employee satisfaction, and using dashboards to monitor and motivate data collection staff.
Time/Date
10:45am-12:00pm on Tuesday, 5/21/2019
Location
Tom Thomson
Facilitator
David Northrup, York University - Institute for Social Research
Session Focus
Survey research methods for web surveys continue to evolve. Come and learn more about recent challenges and solutions with web surveys on topics such as experiments in email recruitment, ways to encourage web response, and obtaining high data quality.
Time/Date
10:15am-10:45am on Tuesday, 5/21/2019
Refreshments served.
Time/Date
9:00am-10:15am on Tuesday, 5/21/2019
Location
Toronto III
Facilitator
Heidi Guyer, UM-Survey Research Center (UM-SRC)
Fred Conrad is a Research Professor at the University of Michigan's Survey Research Center. He will discuss several new and emerging modes for collecting conventional survey data (i.e., self-reports), specifically text messaging, virtual interviewers, and video-mediated interviewing. In addition he will talk about two types of data that are not self-reported but may hold promise for social and behavioral research: sensor data collected with smartphones and social media posts, specifically tweets. He will suggest that the Total Survey Error framework continues to apply and can help improve quality across modes and types of data.
Time/Date
7:30am-9:00am on Tuesday, 5/21/2019
Location
Toronto I
Continental breakfast served
Time/Date
4:45pm-5:45pm on Monday, 5/20/2019
Location
Toronto II
Everyone is encouraged to attend the IFD&TC Business Meeting. Even if this is your first year attending the conference, your participation is welcome.
The Business Meeting is where we discuss the future of the IFD&TC conference, elect new organizers, and learn about the location of future conferences.
Time/Date
3:15pm-4:30pm on Monday, 5/20/2019
Location
Jackson
Facilitator
Brian Harnisch, Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center
Session Focus
What are the best data and methods for assessing the performance of various aspects of survey operations? Traditional statistical methods such as multiple regression as well newer data visualization techniques are considered in this session on use of paradata and statistical modeling.
Time/Date
3:15pm-4:30pm on Monday, 5/20/2019
Location
Varley
Facilitator
Janice Larson, Iowa State University - CSSM
Session Focus
This roundtable will provide opportunity to discuss the implications of recent IRB changes for survey shops as well as how to most effectively address those challenges.
Time/Date
3:15pm-4:30pm on Monday, 5/20/2019
Location
Tom Thomson
Facilitator
Heidi Guyer, UM-Survey Research Center (UM-SRC)
Session Focus
Join us for a lightning round of brief presentations on a wide range of topics including a review of incentive strategies and optimizing respondent recruitment using sampling and outreach strategies.
Time/Date
3:15pm-4:30pm on Monday, 5/20/2019
Location
Carmichael
Facilitator
Delicia Solis, MSU Office for Survey Research
Session Focus
Challenges and solutions in sampling and calling strategies for telephone and establishment surveys.
Time/Date
2:45pm-3:15pm on Monday, 5/20/2019
Refreshments served.
Time/Date
1:30pm-2:45pm on Monday, 5/20/2019
Location
Tom Thomson
Facilitator
Orin Day, RTI International
Session Focus
Presenters will provide an eclectic take on various infrastructure issues impacting survey centers. Many centers are experiencing pressure to migrate to cloud-based platforms for a range of services. Longstanding concerns regarding security and testing are also addressed.
Time/Date
1:30pm-2:45pm on Monday, 5/20/2019
Location
Varley
Facilitator
Kelleigh Trepanier, A.L. Burruss Institute - Kennesaw State University
Session Focus
Do you work in a small shop? Come discuss problems you face and solutions you've implemented given constraints in terms of size, budget, and organizational context. This roundtable will facilitate networking, sharing of ideas, and adapting to ensure that your small shop prospers.
Time/Date
1:30pm-2:45pm on Monday, 5/20/2019
Location
Carmichael
Facilitator
Peter Batra, UM-Survey Research Center (UM-SRC)
Session Focus
Learn about cutting edge methods for recruiting participants from specialized provider and patient populations.
Time/Date
1:30pm-2:45pm on Monday, 5/20/2019
Location
Toronto II
Facilitator
Gina Cheung, UM-Survey Research Center (UM-SRC)
Session Focus
Large scale data collection efforts provide unique opportunities for learning about center and staff management. This session will highlight multiple aspects of four large data collection efforts from different organizations.
Time/Date
12:00pm-1:00pm on Monday, 5/20/2019
Location
Toronto I
Bring your RDD lunch ticket and join us for lunch.
Attendees are seated at tables according to the number drawn on their lunch tickets at check in. RDD lunch is a fun way to meet and get to know other attendees!
Time/Date
10:45am-12:00pm on Monday, 5/20/2019
Location
Jackson
Facilitator
Eric White, University of Wisconsin Survey Center
Session Focus
Technical solutions frequently involve a mix of off-the-shelf and custom software. This session provides a mix of homegrown solutions and innovative extensions of licensed software products.
Time/Date
10:45am-12:00pm on Monday, 5/20/2019
Location
Varley
Facilitator
David Bergeron, RTI International
Session Focus
Join us for a session that focuses on different approaches to respondent contact protocols across modes.
Time/Date
10:45am-12:00pm on Monday, 5/20/2019
Location
Carmichael
Facilitator
Yu-chieh (Jay) Lin, UM-Survey Research Center (UM-SRC)
Session Focus
Presenters will share important advances in survey language translations, cultural considerations when adapting survey scales and recruiting special populations.
Time/Date
10:45am-12:00pm on Monday, 5/20/2019
Location
Toronto II/III
Facilitator
Tracy Keirns, University of New Hampshire
Session Focus
Learn more about techniques for formatting and introducing surveys, follow-up strategies that work, and call-in options to improve response rates.
Time/Date
10:15am-10:45am on Monday, 5/20/2019
Refreshments served.
Time/Date
8:00am-8:30am on Monday, 5/20/2019
Location
Carmichael
All attendees facilitating a session at the conference are asked to attend a half hour breakfast meeting to go over facilitator guidelines and answer questions. If you've been a facilitator before, please come share your experiences with newer facilitators. If this is your first time, join us to meet others, and learn more about how facilitating works at IFD&TC.
Time/Date
7:30am-9:00am on Monday, 5/20/2019
Location
Conference Check-in Desk
If you arrived late to the conference, you have the opportunity to check in before the first session Monday morning at the IFD&TC registration desk.
Time/Date
7:30am-9:00am on Monday, 5/20/2019
Location
Toronto I
Continental breakfast served.
Time/Date
6:00pm-7:30pm on Sunday, 5/19/2019
Location
Pool Terrace
IFD&TC organizers past and present welcome you to the conference.
Please join us for a happy hour reception featuring light snacks, a cash bar, and an informal time to visit with old and new friends. Dinner on your own after the reception.Time/Date
4:00pm-5:15pm on Sunday, 5/19/2019
Location
Tom Thomson
Facilitator
Margaret Hudson, Chris Benson, UM-Survey Research Center (UM-SRC) | NORC at the University of Chicago
Session Focus
Speed Networking returns!
Whether you are brand new to IFD&TC, or have been coming for years, speed networking is a great way to meet new people and kick off the conference with an informal chance to get to know other 2019 attendees. Join us for a fast paced speed networking session on Sunday afternoon before the happy hour reception.
Time/Date
12:00pm-5:00pm on Sunday, 5/19/2019
Location
Conference Check-in Desk
Come to the IFD&TC registration table to check in and pick up your conference materials. Limited late conference check-in also available from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Monday morning.
Time/Date
9:00am-10:15am on Monday, 5/20/2019
Location
Toronto III
Facilitator
Jennifer Dykema, University of Wisconsin Survey Center
IFD&TC is very pleased to welcome Paul Beatty of the U.S. Census Bureau for the Field keynote address. This presentation considers how some of our common questionnaire development methods are evolving in response to shifts in survey modes, availability of new data sources, and other notable changes in the survey landscape.