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NORC at the University Chicago

Nadarajasundaram Ganesh

Principal Statistician
Statistics & Data Science
Ganesh is an expert in sample design, survey weighting, statistical modeling and estimation.

Ganesh brings over 18 years of experience in survey methodology research. His expertise includes survey design, sampling, weighting, estimation, and statistical modeling, applied across diverse domains such as education, health care, health insurance, immunizations, outdoor recreation, political polling, poverty, public opinion, and religion. He is recognized for his subject matter expertise in small area estimation and in integrating probability and nonprobability survey data.

Currently, Ganesh serves as lead statistician for several high-profile projects, including the National Recreational Boating Safety Survey, Multi-state EHR-based Network for Disease Surveillance, and Entrepreneurship in the Population. He also directs weighting efforts for the Healthy Illinois Survey and the Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation.

Previously, Ganesh led the development of estimation methodology for AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of the American electorate. He served as data delivery manager for the National Immunization Survey-Flu, where he directed a multidisciplinary team providing the CDC with timely influenza vaccination coverage data. Ganesh also served as lead statistician for NORC’s AmeriSpeak® Panel, a nationally representative panel for public opinion research. 

Ganesh has published in leading journals, including Biometrika, Journal of Official Statistics, Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Statistics in Medicine, and Vaccine. His contributions include numerous small area estimation applications, notably leading a team that developed county-level vaccination coverage models using data from the National Immunization Surveys. He has presented papers to the American Association for Public Opinion Research and the American Statistical Association on topics such as survey weighting, composite estimation, and small area estimation.

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Expertise

Education

PhD

University of Maryland

BS

University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

Honors & Awards

President’s Award | 2018

NORC at the University of Chicago

Project Contributions

The National Survey of Artists

A nationally representative portrait of working artists in the United States

Client:

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

AP VoteCast

More accurate insights into voters and the issues they care about

Client:

The Associated Press

National Congregations Study

The first-ever high-quality survey of a nationally representative sample of congregations

Funder:

Lilly Endowment with additional support from the John Templeton Foundation and the Pew Research Center

Survey of Fishing, Hunting & Wildlife-Associated Recreation

Streamlining, economizing, and increasing the reach of a venerable national survey

Client:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies

Entrepreneurship in the Population (EPOP)

Tracking the U.S. population’s experiences with and interest in entrepreneurship and self-employment

Client:

Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

Healthy Illinois Survey

One of the largest state-level health surveys in the United States, providing high-resolution information for all of Illinois

Client:

Illinois Department of Public Health

National Immunization Surveys (NIS)

One of the nation’s largest phone surveys and the gold standard for data on U.S. immunization rates

Client:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases

DASH: A Television Universe Study

Developing a comprehensive picture of the consumer television landscape

Client:

Advertising Research Foundation

Reproductive Health Impact Study (RHIS)

Examining impact of federal and state policy changes on reproductive health care and patient outcomes

Client:

Guttmacher Institute with funding from a private foundation

COVID-19 Impact Survey

Providing real-time data collection during the onset of the pandemic

Client:

The Data Foundation

Publications

Research Library & Findings