University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research

What University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research does

The University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research (ISR), established on February 1, 1949, is the world's largest academic social science survey and research organization and operates as a research institute within the University of Michigan. It comprises five interdependent research centers: the Center for Political Studies (CPS), the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), the Population Studies Center (PSC), the Research Center for Group Dynamics (RCGD), and the Survey Research Center (SRC). ISR's core technological and methodological assets include longitudinal panel infrastructure (Panel Study of Income Dynamics since 1968, Health and Retirement Study since 1992, American National Election Studies, Monitoring the Future, and Surveys of Consumers), a centralized data archive through ICPSR holding more than 1 million research data files and 7,000+ collections, Survey Research Operations providing end-to-end data collection including biospecimens, specialty research facilities (HomeLab apartment environment, Virtual Reality Lab), FISMA Moderate-compliant secure data enclaves, and stewardship of the Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) international standard.

ISR's product portfolio also includes major training programs: the Summer Institute in Survey Research Techniques (10,000+ alumni from 105+ countries), the ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods (800+ scholars annually), and the Michigan Program in Survey and Data Science (master's and doctoral degrees). The institute publishes through a 22,796-entry Publications Database and the ISR Insights Speaker Series, and operates with more than 300 affiliated research scientists spanning over 20 academic disciplines.

ISR's revenue is non-commercial and derived from multiple recurring streams: federal research grants from the NSF, NIA, NIH, and the Census Bureau (including a $38 million 2022 NSF award for the Research Data Ecosystem platform); ICPSR membership fees from 660+ academic institutions globally; foundation grants from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Knight Foundation; contract-based Survey Research Operations work for government, academic, and research clients; and tuition from training programs. The institute is governed by The Regents of the University of Michigan and is not privately held, with no venture or private equity ownership.

Name

University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research

Legal name

The Regents of the University of Michigan

Website

https://isr.umich.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1949

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

The University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research is the world's largest academic social science survey and research organization, operating five research centers and landmark longitudinal panel studies to serve academic researchers, government agencies, and graduate students worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Science Research Services

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)

akta.pro primary industry

Survey, Panel & Fieldwork Services (BPAHALAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Social Sciences & Public Policy Research Universities (EDAHABAD), Social Sciences Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAD), Scholarly Societies & Conference Proceedings Publishing (MPAJABAK)

Keywords

• Social science research
• Survey research services
• Longitudinal data archives
• Academic training programs
• Survey methodology

Headquarters

HQ city

Ann Arbor

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Federal Research Grants: ISR receives substantial federal research funding from agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institute on Aging (NIA), and National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct social science research and maintain major data infrastructure.
2. ICPSR Institutional Memberships: ICPSR derives revenue from over 660 member institutions globally that pay for access to data archives, training, and curation services.
3. Foundation Grants: ISR receives grants and donations from foundations including the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Knight Foundation to support specific research programs and initiatives.
4. Survey Research Services: ISR provides end-to-end data collection support, from web-based forms to in-person interviewing, including biological specimen collection, to government agencies, academic institutions, and other clients through Survey Research Operations.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Institute for Social Research conducts and supports large-scale social science research through five research centers, maintains major longitudinal panel data resources (HRS, PSID, ANES, Monitoring the Future), operates the world's largest digital social science data archive (ICPSR with 7,000+ collections), provides contract survey research and data collection services, and delivers graduate training in survey and data science. Revenue is generated from federal research grants, foundation support, ICPSR institutional memberships, contract survey services, and tuition for training programs.

Product overview

The Institute for Social Research (ISR) is the world's largest academic social science survey and research organization, consisting of five interdependent research centers: Center for Political Studies (CPS), Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), Population Studies Center (PSC), Research Center for Group Dynamics (RCGD), and Survey Research Center (SRC). ISR operates major longitudinal data resources including the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), American National Election Studies (ANES), and Monitoring the Future (MTF). The organization offers training programs including the Summer Institute in Survey Research Techniques and ICPSR Summer Program, and provides specialty research facilities like HomeLab and Virtual Reality Lab. ISR serves as a national laboratory advancing understanding of human behavior through empirical research with over 300 affiliated scientists from more than 20 disciplines.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Research Data Ecosystem: A $38 million NSF-funded platform to improve collection, storage, and security of social science research data
• Next Generation Initiative
• Junior Professional Researcher (JPR) Program
• ISR Insights Speaker Series

Products and services

• Center for Political Studies (CPS) A research center investigating interactions among public opinion, political action, elections, institutions, and political parties, recognized as a world leader in quantitative political research and research methods.
• Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) Maintains the world's largest archive of digital social science data with over 7,000 data collections and 1+ million research data files, providing leadership and training in data access, curation, and analysis methods for 660+ member institutions globally.
• Population Studies Center (PSC) An interdisciplinary community of scholars pursuing research in population studies, supporting domestic and international demographic research in family change, health, mortality, human capital, labor, wealth, and population dynamics; joined ISR as a center in 1998.
• Research Center for Group Dynamics (RCGD) Conducts experimental studies in laboratories and natural settings examining social decision-making, prejudice, social relations, attitudes, and emotion, with applications to social concerns such as crime and racism.
• Survey Research Center (SRC) An international leader in interdisciplinary social science research involving collection and analysis of data from scientific sample surveys, providing cutting-edge study design, data collection, and data processing services.
• Health and Retirement Study (HRS) A longitudinal panel study surveying a representative sample of approximately 20,000 Americans age 50+ every two years since 1992, examining health and economic circumstances of aging Americans, commissioned and funded by the National Institute on Aging.
• Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) The world's longest-running household panel survey, running since 1968, following American families across generations for research on employment, retirement, income, wealth, and health.
• American National Election Studies (ANES) High-quality survey data on voting, public opinion, and political participation, producing datasets used around the world for political science research.
• Monitoring the Future (MTF) Ongoing study of the behaviors, attitudes, and values of Americans from adolescence through adulthood, tracking trends in drug use, drinking, smoking, and changing values among approximately 50,000 youth annually.
• Surveys of Consumers Produces the monthly Index of Consumer Expectations, included in the Leading Indicator Composite Index published by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
• Survey Research Operations (Contract Survey Services) End-to-end data collection support for national, international, and regional studies, from web-based forms to in-person interviewing, including biological specimen collection, offered to government agencies, academic institutions, and research organizations.
• Summer Institute in Survey Research Techniques Graduate-level training program in all phases of survey research techniques, having trained over 10,000 students from more than 105 countries since 1948.
• ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research Provides basic and advanced training in methods and techniques of social science research, training over 800 scholars each summer.
• Michigan Program in Survey and Data Science Offers doctorate and master of science degrees in survey and data science through the University of Michigan, training the next generation of survey statisticians and methodologists.

Quantifiable outcome

• Monitoring the Future survey data has helped guide the nation's alcohol and drug prevention strategies.
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and notable.

• U.S. Bureau of the CensuscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2002The U.S. Bureau of the Census and Survey Research Center jointly created the Michigan Census Research Data Center (later MRDC) to allow qualified researchers access to confidential Census microdata under strict safeguards.
• ICPSR Member Institutions (660+)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1962ICPSR grew from 21 founding member institutions to more than 660 members globally, who access data archives, training, and collaborate on social science data standards and curation.
• Wallace House Center for JournalistsnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerISR collaborates with Wallace House Center for Journalists to support the intersection of journalism and social science research.
• University of Michigan College of EngineeringnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerISR partnered with the College of Engineering on pilot grants to study rural life, supporting teams of interdisciplinary researchers combining engineering and social science approaches.
• Berlin PhilharmonicnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerISR collaborated with the Berlin Philharmonic to explore the social dynamics of performance and audience engagement, demonstrating how the arts can enrich social research.
• Artist-in-Residence Rick LowenotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerISR's artist-in-residence Rick Lowe worked alongside ISR scholars to join artistic practice with social science research, offering new ways to visualize themes of equity and justice.
• Graham Sustainability InstitutenotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerISR partnered with Graham Sustainability Institute on the Sustainability Cultural Indicators Program (SCIP) to assess sustainability knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes across U-M students, faculty, and staff.
• Michigan State University (via MRDC)notableStrategic or Co-development PartnerMRDC is a joint venture between the U.S. Census Bureau, University of Michigan, and Michigan State University, supported by all three institutions.
• Johns Hopkins University (NHATS and NSOC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerISR co-leads the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and National Study of Caregiving (NSOC) with faculty from Johns Hopkins University.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• RAND Corporation: RAND is a major nonprofit research organization conducting policy analysis and social science research with a global footprint. It overlaps with ISR in survey methodology, policy research, and operating research centers with government funding.
• NORC at the University of Chicago: NORC is one of the largest independent academic survey and social science research organizations in the U.S., affiliated with the University of Chicago. Like ISR, NORC conducts large-scale survey research, operates longitudinal studies, and provides survey research services to government and academic clients.
• Westat: Westat is a leading employee-owned research firm providing statistical survey research and data collection services to government agencies and academic institutions. It is a direct competitor in survey research operations and collaborated with ISR on the Joint Program in Survey Methodology.
• RTI International: RTI International is a nonprofit research institute providing scientific research, survey methodology, and data analytics services. It operates similar large-scale survey research projects for government clients and competes in the same federal research contracting space.
• Mathematica: Mathematica is a research and data analytics firm focused on social policy, health, and human services research. It conducts large-scale surveys, program evaluations, and policy research similar to ISR's government-funded work.
• Pew Research Center: Pew Research Center is a leading nonpartisan survey research organization producing public opinion polling and social science datasets. It is a direct peer in producing high-quality survey data used by researchers, policymakers, and journalists worldwide.
• Urban Institute: Urban Institute is a nonprofit research organization focused on economic and social policy research, including surveys on retirement, health, and inequality. It operates HRS-adjacent programs and shares ISR's mission of evidence-based social science research.

Regional players

• GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences: GESIS is Germany's largest social science infrastructure institute and provides data services, survey methodology, and research archives comparable to ICPSR. It is a strong international peer but operates primarily in Europe.

Broad incumbents

• National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER): NBER is a private, nonprofit research organization that has conducted economic and social science research since 1920. While more focused on economics, it shares ISR's nonprofit research model, federal funding relationships, and role as national social science infrastructure.

Emerging players

• Survey Research Center (SRC) – although part of ISR, comparable standalone survey research entities include the University of Maryland's Joint Program in Survey Methodology (JPSM): JPSM is a collaborative academic survey methodology training program established in 1992 with Westat and University of Maryland, closely associated with ISR. It represents the broader academic survey methodology community that competes for talent and federal funding.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat7 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/umisr
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@ISR_Michigan
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/university-of-michigan-institute-for-social-research

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research