Standards and Certifications

Consistent with the U.S. approach to certification, which relies mainly on the development of professional standards and codes of practice within specific industries rather than certification to voluntary standards (for example, such as those set by the International Organization for Standards), NORC has played a major role in the development of quality standards in the fields of survey and public opinion research, both in the United States and internationally.

NORC was one of the founders of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), considered to be the pre-eminent organization for researchers, academicians, government leaders and policy experts who participate in public opinion surveys, survey research and market research.

NORC founder Harry Field envisioned that the newly formed organization would provide a meeting ground for practitioners to come together to develop and discuss the science of the field. Today that vision lives on as members gather to confer upon such issues as uniform standards and practices, new technologies and sampling approaches plus methodological advances. In addition to providing a forum for members to share common problems and opportunities, AAPOR publishes the widely regarded Public Opinion Quarterly and recognizes leadership through its industry awards program. Through the years NORC professionals have held leadership roles within the association and received many prestigious AAPOR awards—for innovation, scholarship, and lifetime achievement.

International Research Standards
NORC meets the recognized ethical and practice standards of a number of professional groups in the survey research industry:

NORC staff members are vitally engaged in following best practices in international social science research and are members of the leading social science research organizations, including AAPOR, WAPOR, the American Economic Association, American Sociological Association, American Statistical Association, European Social Research Organization, and other bodies. Tom W. Smith, Director of the General Social Survey at NORC, has chaired the standards committee of both AAPOR and WAPOR and serves on the organizing committee of the International Conference on Survey Methods in Multicultural, Multinational, and Multiregional Contexts (3MC) scheduled for June 2008 in Berlin. NORC’s Norman Bradburn has been president of AAPOR. Fritz Scheuren of NORC is the most recent past president of the American Statistical Association. Norman Bradburn, Fritz Scheuren, and Kirk Wolter of NORC are all members of the International Statistical Institute.

NORC is the U.S. affiliate of the International Social Survey Program, an organization that conducts social indicators research around the world. NORC was instrumental in the founding of ISSP.

Department of Commerce Information Security Certification
NORC is in the process of obtaining Department of Commerce approval of regarding its System Certification package, including IT Security Plan and a system certification test plan, as outlined in Department of Commerce IT Security Program Policy, Section 6.5.2. Once approved, the IT Security Plan will be fully compliant with the U.S. Federal Information Security Management Act, provisions of mandatory Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS), and will meet all of the U.S. National Institute of Science and Technology’s IT, data, system and physical security requirements.

Institutional Review Board

NORC’s IRB has the corporate responsibility for monitoring survey procedures to ensure the confidentiality of persons and establishments participating in a study. Before any survey may begin, the Principal Investigator or Project Director must submit a formal protocol to address human subject protections that includes all survey materials and instruments. The IRB Administrator and Chair are responsive to the need for timely reviews, and all Board members take an active role in helping guide protocols to meet the highest standards for human subject protections.

NORC’s IRB has obtained a Federal Wide Assurance (FWA) and is registered with the Federal Office for Human Research Protections. The FWA demonstrates that the NORC IRB complies with the strict U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regulations. NORC’s IRB requires that research protocols, both for projects in the U.S. and internationally, provide sufficient detail to ensure that (1) the selection of subjects is equitable, subjects’ privacy is protected, and data confidentiality is maintained; (2) informed consent is written in language that study participants can understand and is obtained without coercion or undue influence; and (3) appropriate safeguards protect the rights and welfare of vulnerable subjects. Reviewed materials include the informed consent statements, all contact materials, and the survey instruments. In addition, the protocol must include the curriculum used for training interviewers and other project staff on human subject protections, as well as the security plan to safeguard data security and the information technology infrastructure for collecting and transmitting data.

Business Practices

501(c)3 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as amended and has maintained this status since granted initially in 1942 (under the Internal Revenue Code of 1939, section 101(6)). Additionally, our accounting practices meet recognized standards for not-for-profit organizations and the more stringent requirements of federal contractors under OMB Circular No. A-133; we undergo a full financial audit every year; and our indirect cost rate structure is approved by the Division of Cost Allocation of our cognizant federal agency, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NORC is registered with the Better Business Bureau of greater Chicago, a vehicle for investigating the integrity of business practices.