International Association of Survey Statisticians

Message from the IASS President

The IASS aims to promote the study and practice of sample surveys and censuses, and to increase interest in the issues of survey taking amongst our fellow statisticians, government and the public. The 2009 ISI Session in Durban was a wonderful opportunity to pursue this objective through the general Scientific Programme, the programme of meetings sponsored by IASS and the seven IASS Short Courses conducted before the Session. I thank John Kovar, Leyla Mohadjer and Steve Heeringa for their substantial contributions to this.

A key set of activities for Council over the next year will be developing the IASS input to the content and arrangements for the ISI World Statistics Congress (WSC) in Dublin in 2011, and its short course program, as well as preparing proposals for the following WSC in Hong Kong in 2013. Thanks to the work of our Programme Committee and its Chair, Geoff Lee ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ), the programme for Dublin is shaping up well. Arrangements to set up a Programme Committee for Hong Kong are underway, and anyone with suggestions for topics for Hong Kong, should in the first instance send them to me. Input from members on the Short Courses for Dublin should be sent to Leyla Mohadjer (see the message from the Scientific Secretary below).

At the Durban Session, I took over the presidency of the IASS from Pedro Luis do Nascimento Silva, and I thank him for his work over the last two years. One of the initiatives set up by Pedro was a report, prepared by Geoff Lee, Sarah Nusser, and Don Royce (convenor): 'Improving IASS Services to Members'. This report is available on the website http://isi.cbs.nl/iass, together with a summary of the Executive Council discussion of it. An agreed priority is to develop the functionality and content of the IASS website to support mail out services to members, easier development of an electronic version of Survey Statistician, and a moderated 'ask the experts' forum. A review of functionality and costs for upgrading the website will be undertaken jointly by the new Executive Director Catherine Meunier, and Webmaster Eric Rancourt.

At its meeting in Durban, the IASS Council agreed a policy on the use of IASS funds to support relevant international workshops, conferences and similar events (see the IASS website). Under this policy, bids for financial support by the IASS for conferences running from July 2010 to June 2011 should be submitted to Peter Lynn ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) by 31 March 2010. Proposals can then be evaluated jointly against the agreed set of criteria listed in the policy. The availability of funding for this purpose will be advertised on the IASS website (http://isi.cbs.nl/iass). It was agreed by the IASS Council that the IASS would support the 6^th International French Colloquium on Surveys in Tangier (23-25 March 2010).

The Chair of the Jury for the Cochran-Hansen Prize for 2011 is Mike Hidiroglou ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ). This is a prize for the best paper on survey research methods from a young statistician in a developing or transitional country. The paper must be an unpublished original work, though it may include material from the participant’s university thesis. The winner of the Prize will be paid reasonable expenses to attend the WSC Dublin to present his/her paper, as well as receiving books and journal subscriptions to the value of € 500. If you know someone who may be interested in submitting a paper in this competition, please pass this information on to them. Further details are available from Mike Hidiroglou.

The IASS has a network of country representatives. There are some gaps in this network and we will be looking to strengthen relationships with the country representatives over the coming year. Linda Hewitt ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) has agreed to provide a focus for this. If you are an IASS member in a country without a representative and would like to volunteer, or are interested in working with the representative from your country, please contact Linda.

Finally, I would like to encourage anyone wanting to become involved in the activities of the IASS, particularly furthering new directions for the web, for the newsletter or with regard to young statistician membership and activities, to contact me.

Susan Linacre
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Message from the IASS Scientific Secretary

I am delighted to be given this opportunity to serve the IASS as the Scientific Secretary for the next two years. My sincere thanks to my predecessor, Steven Heeringa, for his outstanding efforts in arranging the seven IASS Short Courses offered before the formal opening of the ISI Durban Session. I am also very grateful for all his support and expert advice during the transition period.
The program of the IASS Short Courses that are offered immediately prior to the biennial meetings of the ISI is the most significant educational activity of the IASS. We start planning for the WSC Dublin by collecting ideas from IASS members for new short courses. These are new courses that are thought to be valuable additions to the pre-conference training program for 2011. If you have a short course topic that you feel would be a valuable addition to the WSC Dublin program, please submit your proposal for a new short course to Leyla Mohadjer at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 1 April 2010. After that date, the IASS Executive will review the historical offerings and the new proposals and establish a preliminary program of Short Courses for WSC Dublin 2011. Please include the following information in your proposal:

• Course title and subject area description.
• Name of text (if applicable), source of other instructional materials.
• Syllabus for a course of approximately two days (12-16 contact hours).
• Target audience for the course, evidence of demand (optional).
• Statement of relevance to the general IASS membership.
• Statement of special relevance to statisticians in developing and transition countries who are likely to attend the WSC Dublin in 2011.

Regards,

Leyla Mohadjer
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