The Bureau of Sociological Research celebrated our 60th anniversary in 2023-2024. We had another fantastic year, with $2.5 million in revenue and 135 projects. Because of our continued success and growth, BOSR restructured our leadership team in 2023-24, providing support and oversight of BOSR’s projects and client needs. After conducting widespread national searches, BOSR selected Kim Meiergerd to be the Assistant Director for Operations and Amanda Ganshert to be the Assistant Director for Research and Methods, each an expert in the science of surveys and in research center operations. Our award-winning staff continued to be recognized this year - Project Manager I Ryan Doud (2023) and Senior Project Manager Nikki Gohring (2024) won staff Applause awards from the College of Arts and Sciences. BOSR is in excellent shape for the future!
As always, we continued our mission of supporting faculty and student research and providing needed information for the state of Nebraska, as well as supporting our education mission through offering training for the Nebraska community. This year’s annual report highlights some of the ongoing work that BOSR conducted this year for a wide range of State of Nebraska offices. We started a Nebraska Snapshot series to provide information from the Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey about the experiences and feelings of Nebraska adults across the state. We presented cutting-edge research on survey methods at conferences, advancing BOSR’s research methods with the goal of collecting high quality data at reasonable costs for our clients. We collected and analyzed data for faculty and administration across UNL, UNMC, UNO, and the Nebraska System, as well as other local universities. We hosted summer interns who gained real-life experience conducting and designing surveys, and provided training on survey methods to 14 units across the Nebraska system.
Our 60th anniversary celebrations were particularly memorable. We brought in high impact speakers from UNL and outside our state to highlight the importance of survey research in understanding our world. These talks and meetings with staff, faculty and students were well-attended by a broad swath of university and community members (see the story on pages 4-5). Each speaker provided their own perspectives on how social science research informs the public and policymakers and decisions made here in Nebraska and at UNL.
With our strong history, investment in staff training, innovations in research and development, and commitment to education, BOSR is well-positioned to continue to provide high quality research support for our community for the next 60 years.
Kristen Olson, Director, Bureau of Sociological Research
