J. Michael Dennis is a senior vice president in NORC’s Business Ventures
and Innovation unit (BVI) and Executive Director of
AmeriSpeak, NORC’s multi-client panel-based research platform. Dennis
oversees all of AmeriSpeak’s operations, including business development and
panel recruitment.
Dennis is a nationally recognized
expert on survey research methods, with a particular focus on online surveys
and household panels. He has overseen
more than 100 statistical studies using online data collection and was
appointed to serve as a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research
(AAPOR) Task Force that developed online survey recommendations for
researchers. His areas of methodological
interest are in mixed-mode data collections, measurement of non-response bias
and panel conditioning, uses of administrative data for enhancing survey sampling
and analysis, and passive measurement of digital behaviors.
Prior to joining NORC, Dennis held
several executive positions over fourteen years at Knowledge Networks, which
was acquired by GfK Custom Research in 2012. Dennis founded Knowledge Networks’
Government and Academic Research Unit and managed all of the company’s federal,
academic, and foundation funded research for clients such as the Centers for
Disease Control, the Environmental Protection Agency, University of
Pennsylvania, the National Science Foundation, and Stanford University.
In addition, Dennis provided management and
scientific oversight for KnowledgePanel®. Before joining Knowledge Networks, Dennis directed telephone and field data
collections for Abt Associates on federally funded surveys, including the National Immunization Survey.
In addition to his work on publicly
funded studies, Dennis has designed and directed consumer market research
studies regarding food products, smartphones, personal computing, and other
products. He has authored more than 60
articles, conference and seminar papers, and book chapters and is a frequent
speaker at annual meetings of the American Association for Public Opinion
Research.