Stage 1 of 6
Frame the question
Before anyone is interviewed: what the client needs to know, who to ask, and how.
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Study plan and scope memo
Done for Two hundred-plus projects in three years at the University of Texas Office of Survey Research.
- STurn a loose question into three answerable research questions
- MWrite a two-page scope memo: aims, audiences, method, timeline, cost bands
- MRe-scope an over-budget design into a cheaper mixed design
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Landscape scan
Done for Comcast Hispanic landscape; scientist interviews for the Alliance for Aging Research.
- MSummarize the existing polls and studies on a topic in one brief
- SMap who has already asked your question, and what they found
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Questionnaire and discussion guide
Done for More than 300 state and national exit-poll questionnaires; Public Agenda studies.
- MDraft a survey questionnaire from a scope memo
- SDraft a focus-group or interview guide with projective exercises
- SReview an existing questionnaire for leading, double-barrelled or biased wording
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Sampling and cohorts
Done for Diabetes groups segmented by risk and acculturation; shared recruits across clients.
- SDesign the segment grid for a qualitative study
- SFind two clients who need the same audience and propose a shared recruit
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Survey experiments and message testing
Done for Split-sample experiments in the 2008 primaries; AED/NIH HIV vaccine message testing; OraSure spokesperson tests.
- S–MDesign a split-sample test of two to four message frames
- SWrite the randomization and analysis plan for a message experiment
- MRead a message test by segment and write the one-page result
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Pretest
Done for AED/NIH HIV vaccine message testing.
- MRun five cognitive interviews on a draft questionnaire, in English or Spanish, and write the fixes
Stage 2 of 6
Gather
Fieldwork: finding the right people and getting them to talk.
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Screeners and recruiting specs
Done for OraSure high-risk cohorts; epilepsy and RA/psoriasis patient groups.
- SWrite a screener for a hard-to-reach group
- SAudit a recruiting facility’s grid against the spec
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Focus groups and interviews, English and Spanish
Done for Spanish-language AED/NIH groups; 75 physician and 25 c-suite interviews for BCG; RIVA-trained moderator.
- SModerate one group, or a day of interviews, from your guide
- SWrite the same-night topline after a group
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Ethnography and video
Done for About 800 ethnographies; in-home sessions with a videographer for Cox Media.
- MRun three in-home visits and cut a five-minute highlight reel
- SDesign a self-ethnography assignment with participant-uploaded video
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Online communities and diaries
Done for California Lottery in-person and online groups; online moderation of a vaping study.
- MSet up and moderate a one-week mobile diary
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Programming, QA and monitoring
Done for Survey project management at NuStats; Snap Survey and SurveyMonkey.
- STest a programmed web survey against the paper version and log every error
- SMonitor field quotas and flag problems daily
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Spanish adaptation
Done for On-air analyst for CBS Telenoticias; Spanish and Bribri textbooks for NAMARMA.
- S–MTranslate and culturally adapt an instrument, with a back-translation check
- STranslate and summarize Spanish-language transcripts
Stage 3 of 6
Make sense
Analysis: from transcripts and data files to findings that hold up.
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Coding and thematic synthesis
Done for OraSure multimodal research; Kaiser Permanente staff and patient groups.
- MBuild a codebook from ten transcripts and code the rest
- SCode survey open-ends into a frequency table with quotes
- S–MWrite a thematic memo: five findings, each with its best three quotes
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Cleaning, weighting and tables
Done for CBS News and New York Times polls; SPSS training at UT.
- MClean and weight a survey file, with a documented weighting memo
- SRun banner tables by your subgroups
- SRerun a past study’s tables on new data, matching the old method
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Subgroup and segment reading
Done for Kaiser Family Foundation / Washington Post / Harvard Latino survey series; election-night analysis.
- SFind the three subgroup differences that matter, and say why
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Data QA and fact-checking
Done for Vetting outside polls for CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes.
- SVet a third-party poll before you cite it
- SCheck every number in a draft report against its source
- S–MReconcile two studies that disagree, in a one-page note
Stage 4 of 6
Tell it
Writing and production: the finding in a form people will read, watch or say on air.
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Toplines, briefs and executive summaries
Done for Public Agenda reports and issue briefs; a synthesis report for BCG.
- STurn a 60-page report into a two-page brief
- SWrite the executive summary for someone else’s study
- SWrite a press release and a Q&A sheet for a study launch
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Ghostwriting
Done for Book-length nonfiction, briefing reports and op-eds.
- S–MDraft an op-ed from an interview with the author
- MDraft a report chapter from your notes and data
- S–MEdit a draft report for argument and clarity
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Grant and funding proposals
Done for NAMARMA grants from Costa Rican agencies and UNESCO; a quadrennial report to UN ECOSOC.
- MDraft the needs statement and evaluation plan of a proposal
- S–MBuild a funding-prospect list for a small nonprofit
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Scripts and data narratives for talent
Done for Analytical copy for CBS and NBC anchors, 1996–2011.
- SWrite the on-air explainer script for a poll
- S–MPrepare a spokesperson’s briefing book and likely questions
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Visual and video
Done for Verizon PSA series; Amrita TV coverage of the Clinton Global Initiative; documentary treatments.
- S–MWrite a documentary or PSA treatment
- MCut research video into a three-minute story for executives
- SDesign three charts that carry a report’s argument
- S–MRebuild a findings deck so each slide makes one claim
Stage 5 of 6
Convene and translate
Getting people into a room, and getting experts and the public to understand each other.
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Ideation and strategy sessions
Done for An executive ideation session for Verizon; post-research strategy sessions.
- S–MDesign and facilitate a half-day session that turns findings into decisions
- SWrite the session’s decision memo the next day
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Convenings and conferences
Done for UN ECOSOC food-policy conferences; multi-day annual public programs.
- MDraft the agenda and speaker briefs for a one-day convening
- MWrite the convening’s summary report
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Expert-to-public translation
Done for Public Agenda studies of leaders and the public; KFF/NPR stories.
- SRewrite a technical brief in plain language
- SProduce the Spanish version of a public-facing brief
- MCompare how experts and the public talk about one issue, in a two-page memo
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Training
Done for Trained more than 20 Hill+Knowlton account staff; moderator and ethnography modules; SPSS training at UT.
- STeach a team to read a crosstab in one hour
- MWrite a moderator’s field guide for junior staff
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Field production
Done for Verizon PSA on-camera interviews; Amrita TV Clinton Global Initiative coverage, 2007–2012; a live Spanish-language election broadcast from the CBS building roof, 1998.
- S–MBook locations, crew and permits for a one-day field shoot
- SSchedule and confirm on-camera interviews with experts or community members
- SRun the field day: call sheet, release forms, gear check, shot list
- S–MLine up credentials, interview slots and crew for live event coverage
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Venue and infrastructure operations
Done for New York public programs for the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, 2006–2016, with many thousands of attendees a day.
- SWalk a venue and write the site-readiness checklist for a multi-day program
- MBuild the run-of-show and the load-in and load-out schedule for a large public event
- S–MMap crowd flow, accessibility and power needs for a venue with thousands of attendees a day
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Contracts and labor negotiation
Done for Venue contracts and union agreements for the same programs.
- SReview a venue contract against the event’s needs and list the points to renegotiate
- S–MPrepare the brief for a union or vendor negotiation: positions, interests, fallbacks
- MNegotiate one vendor or venue agreement within a mandate you set
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Food, kitchen and supply logistics
Done for Meals and supplies for the same programs, with a team of up to 30.
- MPlan meals, quantities and supply orders for a multi-day event feeding thousands
- S–MSet up the kitchen and serving-line workflow, with volunteer shifts
Stage 6 of 6
Organize the knowledge
Making what an organization already knows findable and usable.
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Taxonomies and crosswalks
Done for A Deloitte dashboard joining social media, stock and survey data; a 2026 skills crosswalk linking O*NET and ESCO vocabularies.
- MBuild a tagging scheme for your past studies
- M–LCrosswalk two frameworks you use, with each link’s strength stated
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Document and archive audits
- MInventory a shared drive of reports: what exists, what is duplicated, what is missing
- LTurn a decade of reports into a searchable findings index
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Dashboards and trackers
Done for The Deloitte reputation dashboard; a nine-month tracking study with iterative ad testing.
- S–MSpecify the measures and layout of a tracking dashboard
Start
Tell me what is on your plate
Send a few lines on the question, the audience and the deadline. I will reply with questions or a draft scope.