Jill Dever

Jill A. Dever, PhD, has been engaged in innovative survey research for more than 20 years. She is recognized internationally for her contributions to sampling design, weighting and data analysis, as well as for educating others in these areas. She has worked on a variety of studies including those assessing the correlates of good health and vaccination use; therapy payment models for post-acute hospital care; drug use and retention in the U.S. military; smoking cessation programs; and the influence of education and family on career paths. Her research expertise includes development of software for optimizing complex sample designs; construction of analysis weights with adjustments obtained from other surveys; creation of variance estimators for complex statistics; and the evaluation of statistical and quality issues for surveys, particularly those without a defined probabilistic structure (“non-probability samples”). 

Dr. Dever is the co-author of Practical Tools for Designing and Weighting Sample Surveys, an influential book on survey design and weighting, and of more than 15 journal publications. Currently, she is the lead statistician on the California Health Interview Survey, a dual-frame random-digit-dial survey sponsored by UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research, and on the National Internet Flu Survey, a web-based survey sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Her extensive professional service includes positions such as treasurer for the Survey Research Methods Section of the American Statistical Association (ASA; 2011-2014) and for the Washington Statistical Society.  She has also held administrative posts at RTI including the Director of the Washington DC Office and of the Social Statistics Program.Dr. Dever was elected a Fellow of the ASA in 2015.