The Social Science Research Laboratory (SSRL) is a component of the College of Arts & Letters

San Diego State University College of Arts & Letters

San Diego State University, College of Arts & LettersThe College of Arts and Letters provides liberal arts education at San Diego State University...

 at San Diego State University (SDSU)

San Diego State University

San Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...

 in San Diego, California

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

.

Functions

The SSRL provide comprehensive survey research

Survey research

Survey research a research method involving the use of questionnaires and/or statistical surveys to gather data about people and their thoughts and behaviours. This method was pioneered in the 1930s and 1940s by sociologist Paul Lazarsfeld. The initial use of the method was to examine the effects...

 and program evaluation services to university

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 faculty, administration, students, and regional government

Government

Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...

 and non-profit organizations, and to provide education and training in current survey research and program evaluation methods to SDSU students. The SSRL also provides information on current best practices in survey research methodology

Methodology

Methodology is generally a guideline for solving a problem, with specificcomponents such as phases, tasks, methods, techniques and tools . It can be defined also as follows:...

 and program evaluation to SDSU students, faculty, staff, and the greater San Diego community

Southern California

Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

.

Standards

Activities are conducted in accordance with the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR)

American Association for Public Opinion Research

The American Association for Public Opinion Research , founded in 1947, is an organization of approximately 1900 survey research professionals from academia, non-profit organizations, polling firms, and government...

 Code of Professional Ethics and Practices.

Affiliations

• AAPOR: All of SSRL’s full-time staff are members of the AAPOR.
• AEA: The SSRL staff specialize in evaluation research
  Evaluation
  Evaluation is systematic determination of merit, worth, and significance of something or someone using criteria against a set of standards.Evaluation often is used to characterize and appraise subjects of interest in a wide range of human enterprises, including the arts, criminal justice,...
  
  , and are members of the American Evaluation Association (AEA).
• CMOR: The SSRL is a member of the Council on Marketing and Opinion Research (CMOR).
• EMPAQ: The SSRL is a certified independent data collection contractor for Employer Measures of Production, Absence, and Quality (EMPAQ).

External links

• SDSU Social Science Research Laboratory (SSRL) homepage