\” […] Looking ahead to the 80th anniversary in 2027, five strategic goals have been established: strengthening global representation, enhancing transparency and data integrity, fostering partnerships with like-minded organizations, expanding support for early-career researchers, and improving communications and member services. Initiatives already in motion include growing the national representative network to 130 countries, establishing consultative strategic advisory and industry bodies, launching member-led Working Groups, and initiating an annual virtual consultation to gather member input. These efforts reflect a broader commitment to ensuring that WAPOR remains responsive, inclusive, and impactful in a rapidly changing global research environment […]\”

Welcome to the first issue of the WAPOR newsletter in 2025!

This year brings both significant challenges and exciting opportunities for the public opinion research community. Growing political polarization, the spread of misinformation, and the rapid advancement of technologies are influencing how we gather and interpret public opinion data. These shifts call for critical reflection and methodological innovation. In this context, WAPOR’s role in promoting high-quality, ethical public opinion research is so important—and why your engagement matters more than ever.

WAPOR begins the year with a notable leadership development. I am pleased to welcome Professor Colin Irwin of the University of Liverpool (United Kingdom) as the WAPOR’s new Vice President. Colin assumed the role on January 1, 2025. I also would like to express sincere gratitude to Professor Robert Chung for his outstanding service as President of WAPOR in 2023-2024. We are all looking forward to his invaluable contributions in the position of Past President in the next 2 years. Other changes in the leadership team include Sunghee Lee (University of Michigan, USA) joining us as the Chair of Professional Standards Committee and Alice Siu (Stanford University, USA) assuming the position of the Chair of Education Committee. We warmly welcome the new colleagues and look forward to advancing WAPOR further together!

[…]

The World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) Asia Pacific Chapter is pleased to announce its Eighth Annual Conference, scheduled to take place from 21 to 23 November 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. This conference will be hosted and co-organized by the Japanese Association for Public Opinion Research (JAPOR) and Rikkyo University Center for Statistics and Information, with Mr. Tokuhisa Suzuki (President of JAPOR, Japan) serving as the Local Conference Chair and Prof. Seokho Kim (Seoul National University, Korea) as the 2025 WAPOR Asia Pacific Conference Chair.

The conference will commence with a joint session between JAPOR and the WAPOR Asia Pacific Chapter on the first day, conducted in Japanese with English interpretation provided. The second and third days will feature the WAPOR Asia Pacific Chapter Conference, conducted entirely in English.

\\\” […] The power of social science data shines when its collection and dissemination belong openly in the public domain when governments promote transparency in the data collection methods and remove barriers to data access. Without transparency, social science data are potentially subject to manipulation. Whether intended or not, this may cause harm to open societies and the people living within them. When data can be accessed only by a privileged few or those who can afford the necessary resources, an imbalance in power is created and becomes compounded. Rigorous scientific methods, their transparent description, and unconstrained and open access to social science data are central to WAPOR’s mission to advocate for the freedom to collect social science data, to underscore the need for high-quality social science data collection methods, and to affirm the freedom to publish results and make data available to others through open public access. WAPOR is concerned about recent attempts to hinder and eliminate social science data collection and its open distribution in open societies. WAPOR is a global advocate of freely available social science data in free and pluralist societies since 1947. […] \\\”

We are happy to announce or 78th Conference Awards! We express our gratitude to all nominees and the award committees, and congratulate the winners!