SURVEY METHODOLOGY RESEARCH FOR IMPROVED HEALTH STATISTICS

The University of Michigan Center for Excellence in Health Statistics seeks to improve the quality of survey data available to federal, state, and local policy makers for health promotion and disease prevention. Survey methods have been called as one of the great inventions of the 20 th Century, and are widely used in health policy formulation for information about the health and health care utilization of the general population. Sound, accurate, and reliable data are required for policy analysts not only to assess the current state of health and health care utilization in the general population but also to develop models to predict trends and developments in the population's health. Improving the quality of health survey statistics leads to more effective health promotion and disease prevention policy. The Michigan Center for Excellence in Health Statistics (MiCEHS) is designed to conduct research on the survey process to improve the accuracy of data obtained from sample surveys. when appropriate and convenient, ongoing survey data collection activities at the University of Michigan and the Gallup Organization as vehicles for research and laboratory studies. Develop new statistical methods for analyzing survey data in collaboration with other researchers in the School of Public Health, th