Westat
Encyclopedia
Westat is an employee-owned
corporation
providing research services to agencies of the U.S. Government, as well as business
es, foundations, and state
and local
governments.
In addition to the company’s capabilities as a statistical survey research organization, Westat does custom research and program evaluation studies across a broad range of subject areas. Westat also has the technical expertise in survey and analytical methods, computer systems technology, biomedical science, health information technology, and clinical trials.
Westat's research, technical, and administrative staff of more than 2,000 are located at its headquarters in Rockville, Maryland
, near Washington, DC.
Depending on the number of active projects at any time, up to several thousand data collection and processing staff work at Westat's survey processing facilities, at the Telephone Research Center facilities, and at data collection sites throughout the nation. Westat also maintains research offices near its clients in Atlanta, Georgia
; Cambridge, Massachusetts
; Durham, North Carolina
; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
; and Houston, Texas
. The company has international offices in Beijing, China; Liberia, Costa Rica
; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; New Delhi, India; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Bangkok, Thailand.
Maryland:
California:
Florida:
International offices include Beijing, China; Liberia, Costa Rica; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; New Delhi, India; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Bangkok, Thailand.
Employee-owned corporation
An employee share ownership plan is the practice of companies giving staff members shares in their company as part of their salary....
corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
providing research services to agencies of the U.S. Government, as well as business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
es, foundations, and state
State government
A state government is the government of a subnational entity in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or be subject to the direct control of the federal government...
and local
Local government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
governments.
In addition to the company’s capabilities as a statistical survey research organization, Westat does custom research and program evaluation studies across a broad range of subject areas. Westat also has the technical expertise in survey and analytical methods, computer systems technology, biomedical science, health information technology, and clinical trials.
Westat's research, technical, and administrative staff of more than 2,000 are located at its headquarters in Rockville, Maryland
Rockville, Maryland
Rockville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a major incorporated city in the central part of Montgomery County and forms part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The 2010 U.S...
, near Washington, DC.
Depending on the number of active projects at any time, up to several thousand data collection and processing staff work at Westat's survey processing facilities, at the Telephone Research Center facilities, and at data collection sites throughout the nation. Westat also maintains research offices near its clients in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
; Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
; Durham, North Carolina
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
; and Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. The company has international offices in Beijing, China; Liberia, Costa Rica
Liberia, Costa Rica
Liberia is the capital and largest city of Guanacaste province, Costa Rica, located northwest of the national capital, San José.-Summary:With more than 35,000 inhabitants, Liberia is the regional hub of the Costa Rican northwest. The city center features a modern church, as many Costa Rican towns...
; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; New Delhi, India; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Bangkok, Thailand.
Top 10 of the Market Research Sector 2009
| Rank | Company | Sales in 2009 (million USD) | Growth in % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nielsen Company | 5,000.0 | 2.6 |
| 2 | Kantar Group Kantar Group Kantar, based in UK, was founded in 1993 as the Market Research, Insight and Consultancy Division of WPP plc, a London-based public company. It is a network of 13 specialist companies, with around 28,500 employees working in 100 countries across various research and consultancy disciplines... |
2,000 | 2.5 |
| 3 | IMS Health Inc. | 1,958.6 | 8.9 |
| 4 | GfK AG | 1,397.3 | 5.4 |
| 5 | Ipsos Ipsos Ipsos S.A. is a global market research company headquartered in Paris, France. The Company was founded in 1975 and has been publicly traded on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1 July 1999... |
1,077.0 | 6.5 |
| 6 | Synovate Synovate Synovate was a market research firm owned by the Aegis Group. It was formed from the acquisition of a number of smaller market research firms. It has a number of different divisions, such as Synovate Healthcare, Synovate Customer Experience, Synovate Censydiam and Motoresearch. They claimed... |
739.6 | 9.5 |
| 7 | IRI IRI IRI may refer to:* International Reference Ionosphere a common scientific project of URSI and COSPAR* International Roughness Index, a dimensionless quantity used for measuring road roughness, proposed as a world standard by the World Bank... |
665.0 | 6.6 |
| 8 | Westat | 425.8 | 0.8 |
| 9 | Arbitron | 400.0 | 5.9 |
Capabilities
Westat has conducted studies on a diverse range of topics:- Health conditions and expenditures;
- Academic achievement and literacy;
- Medical treatments and outcomes;
- Exposure assessments;
- Program evaluation;
- Information management and communications solutions; and
- Respondent knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors.
Westat Statistical Software
Westat supports two software packages for statistics professionals: WesVar and Blaise.- WesVar is a software package for variance estimation with complex survey data.
- Westat is the distributor in the United States and Canada for the Blaise family of software, a survey processing system..
Employee Ownership
- Ownership by employees provides a stable organizational framework for long-term growth and development. All employees can earn a share of ownership through the Westat Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). Since the introduction of the plan in 1977, the value of employee holdings has grown with the company’s success as a research organization and with the growth of the staff. Stock earned through the ESOP supplements other fringe benefits, which include a 401(k) plan, health and life insurance, and vacation, holiday, and sick time. Advanced degrees and professional development activities are supported by reimbursement for approved college courses and for attendance at professional meetings.
Office Locations
Westat’s main campus is located in Rockville, Maryland, with additional staff offices near its clients in Atlanta, Georgia; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Durham, North Carolina; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Houston, Texas. The company’s interviewing, field operations, and survey data processing facilities are located throughout the nation:Maryland:
- RockvilleRockville, MarylandRockville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a major incorporated city in the central part of Montgomery County and forms part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The 2010 U.S...
- GaithersburgGaithersburg, MarylandGaithersburg is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. The city had a population of 59,933 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth largest incorporated city in the state, behind Baltimore, Frederick, and Rockville...
- FrederickFrederick, MarylandFrederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...
California:
- MercedMerced, CaliforniaMerced is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California in the San Joaquin Valley of Northern California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 78,958. Incorporated in 1889, Merced is a charter city that operates under a council-manager government...
Florida:
- SarasotaSarasota, FloridaSarasota is a city located in Sarasota County on the southwestern coast of the U.S. state of Florida. It is south of the Tampa Bay Area and north of Fort Myers...
International offices include Beijing, China; Liberia, Costa Rica; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; New Delhi, India; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Bangkok, Thailand.