National Opinion Research Center (NORC)

The National Opinion Research Center (NORC) is the oldest and largest university-based survey research organization in the United States. It was founded in 1941 at the University of Denver by Harry H. Field. Field was from Britain and had worked for the Gallup Organization and set up Gallup in Britain. Departing from the model of commercial public opinion firms established by Archibald Crossley, George Gallup, Elmo Roper, and others, Field wanted to conduct survey research in the public interest, to serve the nonprofit and government sectors, to improve survey methods, and to advance public opinion research by reviewing and synthesizing results from all organizations. After Field's death in a plane crash in France in 1946, the new director, Clyde Hart, moved NORC in 1947 to ...