Biography 

I'm an Assistant Professor in the College of Information (INFO) and Joint Program in Survey Methodology  (JPSM) at the University of Maryland, where I teach courses on data science and survey methodology.  I'm also a Social Data Science Center associate member, a faculty associate of the Population Research Center, and an Adjunct Research Assistant Professor of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. 

I study surveys and other methods of collecting social and behavioral data, particularly newer methods that take advantage of recent technology. My research aims to understand the impacts of those methods on the quality of statistical information and how those methods might be improved. I am interested in survey modes of data collection, questionnaire design, and the integration of apps and sensor into data collection.  

Recent News

March 2024: I delivered a talk, "Using an App for Real-Time Measurement of Transit Rider Satisfaction" as part of the Web Data Opp Workshop in Barcelona, Spain. A theme of the workshop was the potential challenges of collecting new types of data (visual data, voice data, metered data, geolocation data). Clearly we need to learn more about the quality of these data and when they are worth collecting to replace or supplement traditional self-reports. 

March 2024: I attended the Likert Symposium at the University of Michigan, which focused on the theme of "meeting respondents where they are" and gave a presentation about using co-design techniques to develop a survey app. My general take-away message is that is very important to find more ways to involve respondents in the survey design process. 

July 2023: I helped organize two sessions on "Data collection with wearable devices" for the ESRA Conference. https://www.europeansurveyresearch.org/conf2023/. 

October 2022: I helped organize the first iFARM workshop and host it at UMD, with a terrific team of organizers. I'm grateful to the 50+ in-person attendees and 80+ online attendees. There were fantastic keynotes, presentations, and panels! Collecting, processing, and analyzing food data is is challenging, but important to get right. Looking forward to putting together a special issue on this topic. 

August 2022: I was glad to teach two online summer courses on Web Survey Design, one at the Univ of Michigan and one at GESIS in Germany. 

August 2022: I chaired a session organized by Florian Keusch at the Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM) called "Combining Survey and Digital Trace Data". 

July 2022: Glad that this book chapter about using Google Trends data is out in the world. It started as in-class project for a group of graduate students in a course that I taught with F. Keusch and ended up being published!

June 2022: If you study nonresponse bias, then this JSSAM paper is potentially relevant to your work! 

May 2022: I was pleased that AAPOR was able to gather in person this year (for the first time since 2019). I gave a paper about question order effects.