Center for Community Studies Accepted into American Association for Public Opinion Research

On Tuesday, October 1, 2019, the Center for Community Studies at Jefferson Community College (JCC) was granted membership into the Transparency Initiative of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR). The Center for Community Studies is the only SUNY college or university and the only U.S. two-year college in this select AAPOR group.

Founded in 1947, AAPOR is the leading professional organization of public opinion and survey research professionals in the U.S., with members from academia, media, government, the non-profit sector and private industry. There are currently ninety-two members of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, including: Cornell University's Survey Research Institute, the Gallup Organization, Google Surveys, Princeton University Survey Research Center, Siena College Research Institute and University of Michigan Center for Political Studies.

AAPOR President Nora Cate Schaeffer welcomed the Center for Community Studies into the AAPOR Transparency Initiative stating, “We believe you and your organization are providing a strong example to others as a "good citizen" who values and practices openness and transparency . . . Both the public and the credibility of our profession will benefit from your commitment.”

The primary goal of AAPOR’s Transparency Initiative is to foster the open science of survey research by acknowledging those organizations that pledge to practice transparency in their reporting of survey-based research findings. Since 1999, the Center for Community Studies at SUNY Jefferson has completed hundreds of research surveys for the Northern New York community and for private organizations. The Center utilizes the professional knowledge and skills of faculty members to enhance student learning and experience in statistics and mathematics, to provide data to local decision-making leaders, community members, and organizations in the region to solve real-world problems. Jefferson Community College is the only SUNY community college to have such a survey research center. Research director at the Center, Joel LaLone, states:
We were honored and happy to meet AAPOR’s standards and to be invited to join their organization is a great thing for JCC. It attests to the quality of the research conducted by the Center. We are excited to be able to collaborate and continuously improve while working more closely with current Transparency Initiative members.

The Center for Community Studies is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its founding on Thursday, October 24th at 5pm at the Fireside Lounge in the Deans Collaborative Learning Center at Jefferson Community College. All members of the Northern New York Community are invited to attend. Please contact jlalone@sunyjefferson.edu or (315) 786-2264 for more information about this event.