Cognitive psychologist Frederick Conrad has been appointed director of the Program in Survey Methodology, based at the Institute for Social Research.

The program is one of only three in the United States to provide graduate-level training in how to conduct scientifically sound polls and surveys.

Conrad succeeds the program’s founding director, James Lepkowski, a professor of biostatistics and public health who will now serve as associate director of the program.

“I am very grateful to Jim for his steady and thoughtful leadership of the program, and for his continuing involvement as associate director,” Conrad says. “He was instrumental in establishing the program here at Michigan, where scientific survey research has a long and venerable history.

“I am also deeply honored to be heading the Program in Survey Methodology at ISR, which is known worldwide for its expertise in this area. Our program greatly benefits from the involvement of ISR faculty, many of whom are affiliated with Michigan’s social science departments, which are among the best in the world.”

Conrad also will serve as director of the Joint Program in Survey Methodology, a long-standing collaboration between U-M, Westat and the University of Maryland. His appointment as director of both programs marks an important step in their eventual consolidation.

“I hope to advance the continued integration of these programs by working to coordinate admissions and faculty recruitment,” Conrad says. “Eventually, our goal is to have a single program at two sites, offering degrees issued jointly by Michigan and Maryland.”

The Michigan Program in Survey Methodology was established in 2001 and offers certificates in survey methodology as well as master’s and doctoral degrees. Graduates of the program are employed by the U.S. federal statistical system, commercial survey and market research firms, the academic community and nonprofit organizations.

“Our graduates are doing very well,” Conrad says. “Even when the economy is weak, survey researchers are in demand. I’m not aware of a single graduate who wants to work in the field who has not been able to find a satisfying position.”

Conrad’s recent research in survey methodology focuses on new data collection methods such as interactive web surveys and virtual interviewers, interviewer-respondent interactions and the effectiveness of pretesting techniques. He also recently has conducted research on the usability of electronic voting systems and in the role of public events in personal memory.

He currently is the co-principal investigator, with Michael Schober of the New School for Social Research, on a National Science Foundation grant examining responses to surveys on mobile, multimodal devices.

Conrad received a bachelor’s degree from Hampshire College in 1977 and a doctorate in cognitive psychology from the University of Chicago in 1986. He worked at Carnegie-Mellon University as a postdoctoral research associate in psychology then joined the Artificial Intelligence Research Group of Digital Equipment Corporation as a principal software engineer. In 1991 he joined the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as a senior research psychologist, and in 2002 he joined both ISR and the Joint Program in Survey Methodology at the University of Maryland as an associate research scientist. He is now research professor at both institutions.

Conrad is the author or co-author of scores of articles and book chapters on questionnaire design, survey interviewing methods, Web surveys and related topics. He is co-editor of “Envisioning the Survey Interview of the Future” and “Intersections in Basic and Applied Memory Research” and co-author of “Voting Technology: The Not-So-Simple Act of Casting a Ballot.”