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Colm O’Muircheartaigh

Pronouns: He/Him

Senior Fellow
Colm is a statistician with expertise in survey research methodology and data quality.

Colm’s areas of expertise include design of survey samples, questionnaire design and analysis, response and nonresponse error, and data quality. At NORC, his work centers on the development of methodological innovations in sample design and comparisons of data collection modes.

Colm 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. Most recently, Colm has acted as Principal Investigator on Sampling Strategies and Measure Development for the LGBT Aging Project (SAMLAP), leading the design of a two-phase address-based sample of LGBT older adults in the United States.

A faculty member in the Department of Statistics at the London School of Economics and Political Science from 1971 to 1998, Colm was the founding director of the school’s Methodology Institute. From 2009 to 2014, he served as the dean at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, where he has been a professor since 1998. He has acted as a consultant to numerous national and international organizations, including the United Nations, OECD, the International Association for Educational Assessment, and others. Colm formerly served as president of the International Association of Survey Statisticians.

Education

PhD

London School of Economics & Political Science

MS

London School of Economics & Political Science

BA

University College, Dublin

Appointments & Affiliations

Professor

University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy

Visiting Professor in Statistics

London School of Economics & Political Science

Member

Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee

Honors & Awards

Monroe G. Sirken Award | 2018

in Interdisciplinary Survey Methods Research

Bowley Prize | 1975

University of London

Project Contributions

Indiana University’s P2P Health Interviews

Sampling and data collection support for the Person to Person Health Interview Study

Funder:

Indiana University

Making Connections Surveys

A longitudinal and cross-sectional study conducted in low-income neighborhoods in ten U.S. cities

Client:

The Annie E Casey Foundation

National Social Life, Health, and Aging COVID-19 Study

Assessing how resilience or vulnerabilities might affect older adults

Client:

National Institute on Aging

National Social Life, Health & Aging Project

The first nationally representative study of the intersection between social and intimate relationships and healthy aging

Client:

National Institute on Aging