Nebraska alumnus Mario Callegaro, a senior research scientist for Google UK, will lead a 4 p.m. Nov. 20 College of Business lecture in Howard L. Hawks Hall, Room 231.

The talk, “The Role of Surveys in the Era of ‘Big Data,’” is free and open to the public. Callegaro will discuss the relationship between surveys and big data and how that relationship can be used to determine what data sources, or combinations of them, best serve research objectives.

Callegaro earned a doctorate in survey research and methodology at Nebraska in 2007. He also completed a Master of Science degree in survey research in 2002.

One of Callegaro’s primary themes in the lecture will involve distinguishing perspectives about errors in surveys and in big data as a key starting point when looking at combining multiple data sources. By showing trends in survey practices in recent years, he’ll dispute the notion that surveys are in an existential crisis due to big data advancements, and provide an alternative view where the two working together create better values.

A second theme of the talk will be devoted to privacy, confidentiality and data transfer, which are crucial when working on personal identifiers. Given the new tools and technologies available in this era of big data, Callegaro will provide recommendations for researchers regarding news skills and training needs.

Prior to joining Google, he worked as a survey research scientist for GFK-Knowledge Networks. He is the associate editor of Survey Research Methods and a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Market Research. His research expertise includes web survey design, smartphone surveys, cellphone surveys and questionnaire design.