WAPOR National Representatives Meeting 2025
WAPOR held its annual meeting of national representatives in October 2025, with over 30 participants attending virtually from across the globe. The meeting offered a space for updates on current initiatives, clarification of representatives’ responsibilities, and open discussion on the future direction of the organization.
The meeting was Chaired by the WAPOR President and began with a reaffirmation of the role of national representatives as vital connectors between WAPOR and their national research communities. Representatives are tasked with promoting ethical public opinion research, submitting annual country reports, contributing to the WAPOR newsletter, supporting membership growth, and participating in the Freedom to Publish Polls survey. The leadership encouraged active engagement, noting that representatives must be current WAPOR members in good standing and responsive to communication to maintain their roles.
With national representatives currently in 103 countries, WAPOR aims to grow this number to 140. Attendees were asked to recommend colleagues in countries where representative roles remain unfilled, including:
Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Croatia, Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, Gabon, Gambia, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Norway, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Qatar, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Switzerland, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
A major highlight of the meeting was the Global Research Initiative Committee’s project on migration, which will collect international data on both immigration and emigration. The project has already secured participation from countries across Latin America, Asia, Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Additional reach will be achieved through Gallup International’s inclusion of selected questions in its year-end global survey. The results will be presented at the 2026 WAPOR annual conference in Mexico City.
This led to a focused and sometimes intense discussion about data quality and methodology. Concerns were raised about the inclusion of non-probability samples in the migration study. Some participants cautioned that accepting convenience samples risks undermining the credibility of WAPOR’s work and public trust in polling more broadly. Others pointed out the practical constraints in many countries—particularly in authoritarian or conflict-affected contexts—where probabilistic sampling is not feasible. The consensus reached was that transparency must be the guiding principle: all participating studies should clearly disclose sampling methods, and submitted data will be reviewed internally. Data that fails to meet minimum standards will not be included in the final report.
Beyond methodology, several participants called for more frequent interaction among national representatives. The idea of quarterly meetings received strong support as a way to strengthen coordination, share experiences, and give representatives a more active role in shaping WAPOR’s agenda.
Another set of proposals focused on the creation of new working groups or informal advisory committees. Topics suggested included conducting research in authoritarian regimes, improving survey transparency, and regional collaboration on shared challenges. The leadership welcomed these ideas and clarified that representatives are encouraged to initiate informal groups with thematic or regional focus.
An update was also shared about the Global Industry Advisory Group, a new initiative designed to strengthen ties between academic researchers and professionals from the commercial and non-profit research sectors. This group will help integrate applied perspectives into WAPOR’s conferences, publications, and training activities.
The meeting closed with logistical updates. Representatives were asked to participate in a poll to help determine dates for the 2026 Mexico City conference. Planning is also underway for a joint conference with ESRA in 2027, expected to take place in Paris, France.
In closing, participants expressed strong interest in continuing the dialogue beyond the annual meeting format. There was agreement that the national representatives group could evolve into a more structured advisory body, contributing actively to both strategic decisions and emerging research initiatives within WAPOR.