Client Research
When working with my clients, I take a four-step approach to research. These four steps use mixed methods to get information that supports your research goals.
ALIGN. Actionable research starts with informed design. Aligning your outcome goals and metrics with best practices in research methodology lies at the heart of the design process. I will work closely with you and your partner to finalize the research questions and design all surveys for each target respondent group.
ASK. Ask and they will tell. With the well-designed data collection methods, we will be able to coordinate data with your research interests and minimize unnecessary "noise." By asking thoughtful questions throughout the data collection, we can go beyond "what" to understand "why."
ANALYZE. An excellent analysis is more than just cross-tabs. My analysis connects the dots and draws a complete picture of the outcomes and impacts of your innovation. The result is a set of insights that provide facts to either support or debunk the general assumptions about your issues and shape strategies for improving outcomes and impacts.
ACCOUNT. Data has meaning when it tells a story. I don’t just put together a couple of paragraphs and charts that regurgitate data points. I translate the insights and findings into a comprehensive, well-crafted narrative that reveals, in real terms, what’s possible, what barriers exist, and what approaches would prove to be the most successful in moving forward.
Scholarly Research Interests
My dissertation, Constructing Blackwork: A Study of Evaluations and Illegal Work in Germany's Skilled Trades and Artisan Crafts, asked “How have social and economic reforms affected informal and legitimate work in Germany?” By exploring the impact of social and economic reforms on the social constructions of work through the lens of the Handwerk sector, this research facilitates understanding of the divide between formal and informal work activities, the role that emotions play in political processes, and how to mitigate the effects of this division on social and economic development.
I am also interested in other factors that sustain thriving urban communities, including practices, programs, and policies related to climate and environmental justice, food systems, health, energy, workforce development, and small business development. If you would like to share your thoughts on these topics, feel free to send me an email.