WAPOR 72nd Annual Conference
19-21 May 2019 ● Toronto, Canada

Submission Deadline: Monday, 12 November, 11:59 p.m. (EST)

The World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) will hold its 72nd Annual Conference 19-21 May 2019 in Toronto, Canada. The WAPOR conference will convene immediately after and overlap with the last day of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) conference. The conference committee welcomes proposals on topics related to public opinion broadly, especially those related to the conference theme.

Conference Theme: Public Opinion and Democracy

It has been over 800 years since the Magna Carta, and international survey research shows that liberal democratic values of respect for the will of the people, human rights, impartial justice and the rule of law have become widely adopted by citizens across the world. Given how central democratic principles are to the field of survey research, and how central a role public opinion polling plays in the practice of democracy, it is clearly time for social researchers to examine the relationship between public opinion and democracy in some detail.

Do we witness a decline in political and institutional trust and in the perceived legitimacy of democracy? Does the polling profession need to renew its own levels of trust and legitimacy with the public? How should public opinion research operate in order to better serve society and democracy? What is the role of stakeholder/expert research? How do the answers to these questions vary between established and emerging democracies?

WAPOR welcomes proposal submissions that deal with these and related issues, in one of five conference formats including: panels, round-table sessions, research papers (in oral or poster format) and case studies. The round tables will be presented in the new “Innovation Room” at our Toronto Conference.

WAPOR welcomes relevant submissions that focus on all aspects of public opinion and democracy. These topics include, but are not restricted to:

Public opinion and democracy
New sources of information on public opinion and the use of social media to voice public opinion
News, media, journalism and public opinion
Political behavior, participation and culture
Electoral polls in emerging/incomplete democracies
Methodological challenges and improvements, including in the areas of sampling, measurement, survey design and survey response or non-response
Challenges of comparative research and International Survey Projects, cross-cultural concerns in data collection and measurement issues
Social media, big data, sentiment analysis, and emerging technologies
Best practice in stakeholder research and expert surveys

A special Tocqueville award will be presented for the best paper referring to Tocqueville’s famous text “On Democracy in America”. See here for more information on the award.

Submission Process

Proposals for the conference, including the joint AAPOR / WAPOR Sunday session on “Public Opinion and Democracy,” should be submitted electronically by 12 November 2018. Only proposals submitted through this website will be considered. Note: Since this is a joint conference, and we are utilizing the AAPOR submission system, individuals who do not have a AAPOR account, will need to create an account within the AAPOR system with username and password to submit an abstract.

Abstracts should not exceed 300 words. All submissions must be in English, and all accepted works are to be presented in English. WAPOR will accept proposals in one of five conference formats:

Research Papers in oral or poster format generally include a description of the research project with specific research questions or hypotheses, methods and results, if available at the time of submission.

Most individual research papers will be presented orally in a regular session format. We will also have a poster session, in order to serve participants who prefer this format for various reasons. The submission system will ask submitters to indicate whether they prefer to give an oral presentation or present their work at the poster session.

NEW! Case Studies typically include the real-world problem of a client organization, client ideas and constraints, research design and analysis, and client use of the results with real-world outcomes. As this is a new format, please click HERE for WAPOR’s ideal case study framework that will be used in awarding a special prize for “Best Case Study” at the Toronto conference. Joint client/agency presentations are encouraged.

Panel Proposals typically comprise of four or five presentations around a common theme. All submissions, including those made as part of a pre-arranged panel, will be required to submit individual abstracts. This will allow the program committee to review the individual submissions and consider these submissions for alternate placement in the program if the pre-arranged panel is not accepted. Here are the steps for submitting a panel:

o A bit of planning. The panel organizer and participants should touch base before submission time and agree on the panel topic and contributions from each speaker.

o Each panel participant submits an abstract as a paper. Individual panel presenters each need to submit an abstract for their presentation. Select “Paper” as the submission type. This will be used to determine a possible (not guaranteed) place on the program if the pre-arranged panel is not accepted. On completion of your abstract submission, you will need to provide your abstract ID to the panel organizer.

o The organizer submits an abstract for the entire panel. Once all the abstract IDs have been collected, the panel organizer needs to submit an abstract via the Submit a Panel Proposal link. The organizer will be asked for a title, panel description, and the abstract ID numbers of your panelists. Note: Organizers who themselves plan to present in in the panel need to submit twice (first their personal paper and later the panel).

In order for a panel to be accepted, at least three of the individual papers must be accepted. If not, accepted proposals may be assigned to a different session.

NEW! Round Table Sessions will take place in the “Innovation Room” at the Toronto Conference, containing a circle of 20 chairs and a video conference facility, ideal for shorter contributions from a number of speakers followed by open conversation by all those attending. This room will be scheduled in parallel with other sessions, with similar overall length. Abstracts for round table sessions should include the organizer/moderator, the specific theme and subjects to be discussed, names and affiliations of invited discussants, and desired outcomes.

All submitters should receive a system-generated email confirmation of their submission within 24 hours. If this confirmation does not arrive, submitters should log back on to the site to verify that their proposal was submitted correctly in the system. All submitters will be notified of the conference committee’s decision in mid-January 2019.

Queries about the Conference

Questions about the conference should be directed to WAPOR Executive Coordinator Renae Reis (renae@wapor.org).

About the Conference Site

The WAPOR conference will convene at the Chelsea Hotel, Toronto, located in the heart of downtown Toronto, ideally situated for shopping, nightlife, and dining. The Chelsea is an easy 10-minute walk from the AAPOR conference hotel. It also allows for easy access to local tourist attractions and activities. WAPOR registrants can take advantage of sleeping room rates of 185 CAD (single or double), 215 CAD (triple), and 245 CAD (quad), plus applicable taxes. Rooms will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. We will announce the link for reservations when it is available.