The Social & Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI) at Qatar University (QU) hosted the World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) 2015 Regional Conference under the theme ‘Innovation in Public Opinion Research’.
Held for the first time in an Arab country, the 3-day conference brought together researchers and practitioners to share the latest trends in innovative public opinion research methods and to highlight key differences and commonalities on how public opinion research is conducted around the world.
The event drew over 140 national and international participants from a wide range of universities and research and polling centres. Participants were from Qatar, Sweden, USA, Russia, Denmark, Jordan, Iraq, UK, Germany, China, Sudan, Italy, The Netherlands, India, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman, and Pakistan.
The opening session featured welcome notes from QU vice president for research Dr Hassan al-Derham, QU associate vice-president for research operations and SESRI director Dr Darwish al-Emadi, and WAPOR president Prof Patricia Moy from University of Washington, as well as several QU and SESRI officials.
The conference programme agenda featured 3 standalone panels and 8 concurrent sessions over 2 days, covering both methodological and topical areas of survey research. Methodological-themed sessions discussed sampling methods and sampling frames, data quality, and new technology for data collection.
More than 50 papers were presented on topics such as ‘Survey Experiment on Attitudes toward & Perceptions of Women in the Political Sphere’, ‘Political Changes and Political Capital in the MENA Region’,  ‘When do Women Care? Explaining the political interest gender gap in Qatar’, ‘Qatar women: Empowerment and engagement via majalis al-hareem’, ‘Desire for cultural preservation and attitudes toward entertainment censorship in the Arab Gulf: Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE’, ‘Labour rights in Qatar: Contrasting the input for the public sphere in three world regions’, and many others.
Attendees also took part in a programme of social activities showcasing the rich social and cultural scene in Doha.

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