Welcome to WAPOR!

WAPOR is an international professional association whose members recognize the centrality of public opinion in shaping and serving society. We emphasize not only the importance of conducting scientifically sound public-opinion research, but also how this information can be useful to society and its various publics.

As our constitution notes, WAPOR’s mission means it strives to:

“a) promote in each country of the world the right to conduct and publish scientific research on what the people and its groups think and how this thinking is influenced by various factors;

b) promote the knowledge and application of scientific methods in this objective;

c) assist and promote the development and publication of public opinion research worldwide; and

d) promote international cooperation and exchange among academic and commercial researchers, journalists and political actors, as well as between the representatives of the different scientific disciplines.”

WAPOR advances its mission through various efforts – for instance, studies of election polling and infringements on polling; regional and international conferences; white papers, press releases, and workshops; and our refereed journal, the International Journal of Public Opinion Research. With the American Association for Public Opinion Research and ESOMAR, WAPOR has collaborated on an international effort to train journalists interested in understanding and reporting on public opinion research.

In June, WAPOR will be hosting its first annual conference in South America. We’ll be meeting in Buenos Aires 16-19 June 2015, and look forward to meeting new colleagues and reconnecting with older colleagues. The Buenos Aires conference, like all our meetings, will facilitate international and intellectual exchange. Check out the program on the conference website.

Today’s study of public opinion today is not only more geographically diffuse, but also more innovative. No longer do we rely solely on face-to-face or telephone or self-administered surveys. Today we deploy a host of methods and analytics to understand how to study attitudes and behaviors, and we engage in a rich ongoing conversation about how best to collect data and maintain data quality. With these new tools, we learn about the nuances of what “citizenry” means across the globe – not just in advanced democracies, but in many other types of systems, whether we call them “democratizing states” or “frontier nations.”

With its various manifestations, public opinion is a fertile area for research today. We look forward to tackling questions related to the substance and methods of public opinion, and we look forward to working with you.

All the best,
Patricia Moy,
President