Methodological Approaches

Numbers can have immense power, but so can words and images. Quantitative data help us understand the likelihood, magnitude, and effect of an experience, while qualitative data add depth and nuance to our understanding. I integrate quantitative and qualitative methods to understand how, when, and why people think and behave the way they do. I use this understanding to design products, programs, and interventions that enhance people’s thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors.

  • Surveys

    I use a combination of closed-ended and open-ended questions to understand the attitudes, experiences, and behaviors of large groups of people. For momentary or generalized understandings of an experience or issue, I typically design one-time surveys. When it’s important to understand how something changes over time, I use longitudinal methods that make use of repeated surveys.

  • Interviews

    Sometimes the best way to get information is to let people speak for themselves. When little is known about a particular experience or issue, I turn to semi-structured interviews. Interviews provide rich and nuanced understandings of little-studied issues, and they often point to promising paths for future research.

  • Focus Groups

    Like interviews, focus groups can be immensely generative. I bring people together to talk about their experiences - those they have in common and those that differ - to gain a deeper understanding of things that are difficult to quantify. Targeted and well-timed questions keep the conversation flowing so that participants can build upon one another’s contributions.

  • Experiments

    Randomized experiments are the gold standard for establishing cause and effect. To understand whether, to what extent, and under what circumstances one thing affects another, I design lab and field experiments. I consider a range of outcomes, from objective to subjective, and highlight important contextual factors and process explanations.

  • Field Studies

    When you want to know about behavior, you can ask people about it, or you can observe it as it unfolds in the real world. I use field data — photos, videos, audio recordings, and other observations — to better understand what a particular set of behaviors, interactions, or experiences looks like. I often integrate field data into my program evaluation work, as a check on how and to what effect programs are implemented.

  • Research-Practice Partnerships

    When researchers and practitioners come together, truly awesome things can happen. I use research-practice partnerships to bridge my expertise as a behavioral scientist with the expertise and lived experience of practitioners (e.g., educators, leaders). Together, we create and test tailored solutions to the challenges their organizations face.

A community partner once reminded my team that our goal as researchers is not only to learn about people, but also to learn from people. Data can be a great teacher if we approach it with the right tools and the right mindset. I use my advanced statistical training to analyze quantitative data and my extensive qualitative coding experience to summarize open-ended and observational data. Most importantly, I continually work to build and leverage interpretive power — the ability to understand how individuals’ experiences and behaviors are shaped by their cultural contexts (Brady, Fryberg, & Shoda, 2018, adapted from Rosebery, Warren, & Tucker-Raymond, 2016). I interpret data using knowledge that comes both from a deep reading of the empirical literature and from my relationships with participating communities.