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Colm O'Muircheartaigh

Colm O&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;Muircheartaigh

Senior Fellow and Co-Principal Investigator

Center for Advancing Research and Communication in STEM
Center for Excellence in Survey Research

Ph.D., Statistics, London School of Economics and Political Science
M.S., Statistics, London School of Economics and Political Science
B.A., Mathematics and Economics, University College, Dublin

Colm O'Muircheartaigh is a Senior Fellow at NORC in the Statistics and Methodology department and Co-Principal Investigator for the Center for Advancing Research and Communication in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, and is Dean of the Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago.

At NORC, O'Muircheartaigh has played a major role in such pivotal projects as the National Social Life Health and Aging Project (NSHAP), the National Children's Study (NCS), and the General Social Survey (GSS), along with his innovative work building NORC's national sampling frame using the U.S. Postal Service list of addresses. He is one of the world's most forward-thinking statisticians, with special interests in survey research methodology, sample and questionnaire design and analysis, response and nonresponse error, and data quality.

Representative Projects

National Children's Study (NCS). The National Children’s Study will examine the effects of the environment, as broadly defined to include factors such as air, water, diet, sound, family dynamics, community and cultural influences, and genetics on the growth, development, and health of children across the United States, following them from before birth until age 21 years. More

Houston Foreclosure Study. Researchers at the University of Houston and NORC are designing a small panel survey to illuminate the factors contributing to foreclosure (including a test of financial literacy) and what happens to families after they leave their foreclosed home. An additional research question is the impact of foreclosure on children. More

Resident Relocation Survey. NORC at the University of Chicago has been conducting the Resident Relocation Survey (RRS) to gain an understanding of the impact of the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) Plan for Transformation, an ambitious effort to rehabilitate or replace substandard high-rise public housing developments in Chicago, on the lives of those relocated. More

General Social Survey (GSS). Since 1972, the General Social Survey (GSS) has been monitoring societal change and studying the growing complexity of American society. The GSS is NORC’s longest running project, and one of its most influential. More

National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP). The National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP) is a population-based study of health and social factors on a national scale, aiming to understand the well-being of older, community-dwelling Americans. More

See all Colm O'Muircheartaigh projects