“Reexamining the basic spirit of opinion poll research”

- Survey Research Center holds an academic conference of the 

World Public Opinion Research Society with 500 participants

The Survey Research Center of the East Asian Studies Institute (Director Professor Ji-Beom Kim) announced that the 77th World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) and the 7th World Association for Public Opinion Research Asia Pacific (WAPOR Asia Pacific) annual conference will be held at our university from July 28 (Sun) to 31 (Wed).

The conference, which will be held under the theme of “The Soul of Public Opinion Research: Liberty, Quality, and Humanity,” will be held at the 600th Anniversary Memorial Hall and the International Hall of the Humanities and Social Sciences Campus. 351 speakers from 49 countries around the world are expected to present and approximately 500 participants will participate. It will be hosted by the Survey Research Center of Sungkyunkwan University and co-hosted by the Economics and Humanities Research Association, the Korean Survey Research Association, the Korean Political Parties Association, the Korean Sociological Association, the Korean Social Science Data Center, the Seoul National University Institute for Social Development, and PMI.

Domestic and international public opinion research is facing challenges due to decreasing response rates, increasing survey costs, and the development of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data. Therefore, it is time for in-depth discussion on the future development direction of public opinion research, including various data construction methods, research methodology, and research ethics. In particular, this academic conference will reexamine the basic spirit of public opinion research. We plan to discuss whether public opinion research is conducted and reported freely without any threats, whether high-quality data is secured so that various opinions can be accurately reflected, and whether it contributes to resolving social conflicts and promoting humanity.

At this academic conference, Minister of Unification Kim Young-ho, Chairman Shin Dong-cheon of the Economic and Social Research Council, Senior Reporter for JoongAng Ilbo Lee Ha-kyung, President of the World Opinion Research Association Robert Cheong, and President of the World Opinion Research Association Asia Pacific Linda Guerrero will give congratulatory speeches, and each will give a keynote speech on the conference’s themes of ‘Freedom of Survey Research,’ ‘Quality of Survey,’ and ‘Humanity.’ The 351 research presentations that have been pre-registered will be conducted in sessions organized by theme, and there will also be a workshop to improve public opinion research capabilities, a general and regional meeting of the World Opinion Research Association, and a dinner event including an awards ceremony for excellent research presenters. The dinner event will be held at Sebitseom Island in the Hangang River, a tourist attraction in Seoul, and is expected to contribute to enhancing the image of Korea and Seoul among foreign participants.

Meanwhile, the Survey Research Center has been building the Korea General Social Survey (KGSS), which is basic data for comprehensively studying changes in Korean society, with support from the Social Science Research (SSK) project of the National Research Foundation of Korea and Sungkyunkwan University.