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The article reports on the fifty-second conference of the American Association for Public Opinion Research held on May 15-18, 1997 in Norfolk, Virginia. The conference focused on the future of survey research on new methods of data collection, problems in maintaining response rates, and the latest methods for developing questionnaires. And there were many papers on that highly visible test of the accuracy of surveys related with the presidential elections. The session, entitled "Controversies in Pre-Election Polling," featured researchers C. Everett Ladd, Kathy Frankovic, Frank Newport, and John Zogby. Frank Newport, from the Gallup Organization, led off the session. He presented statistics on the margin of error in the presidential poll results going back to the 1940s. Several other sessions concerned the problems and impact of different modes of data collection. Two of these focused on the latest technology for doing surveys, the uses of the Internet for collecting data and disseminating the results. Two other sessions explored the impact of computer-assisted interviewing.

The article reports on the 1997 annual meeting of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) called into session by vice president and president-elect James Beniger on May 17, 1997 in Norfolk, Virginia. Beniger thanked the outgoing AAPOR Council and president Diane Colasanto for their efforts, particularly in pursuing the standards case and in publishing "Best Practices for Survey and Public Opinion Research" and "Survey Practices AAPOR Condemns." Incoming secretary-treasurer Mark Schutman reported that the organization appears to be in good financial shape but that it is likely to run a small deficit when the books are closed on June 30, 1997. He noted that it is not possible to estimate final income and expenses at this time, because the conference results are not yet included in the tallies. There were several reasons for the possible deficit. The Council authorized two additional expenditures this year. The AAPOR Secretariat computer was upgraded in a one-time expenditure. The Council also authorized adding a half-time position to the secretariat, an ongoing expense.