Ana María Arumí

About

Research that people on every side can trust

I have done field research since 1987, when I interviewed young people in San José for University of Costa Rica health studies. Since then I have moderated several hundred focus groups, conducted about 800 ethnographies, and designed surveys for everything from Latino health studies to national election nights.

From 1999 to 2011 I directed the NBC News exit poll desk, delivering live analysis across NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC and Telemundo and serving on the Exit Poll Pool Survey Committee with competing networks and the AP. I won a 2009 Emmy as a producer of the network’s 2008 election coverage.

At Public Agenda I led research on how the people inside an institution and the people it serves see the same issues differently: principals and superintendents, donors and charity leaders, scientists and the public. I work in English and Spanish, and I write for audiences that do not share a technical vocabulary.

Services

Work I can take off your plate

Studio Arumí takes on whole studies or one piece of one, from a day’s task to a full engagement, in English or Spanish. The work runs in six stages, from framing the question to organizing what an organization already knows.

1. Frame the question
2. Gather
3. Make sense
4. Tell it
5. Convene and translate
6. Organize the knowledge

See all services

Record

Where the work happened

1. 1998–now
   Studio Arumí Founder and principal researcher

   Independent research and writing practice. Mixed-methods studies, focus groups, ethnography and reports for foundations, nonprofits, media and companies, including the United Nations, the Kaiser Family Foundation, NBC News and Verizon Wireless.

2. 2011–2012
   Hill+Knowlton Strategies Senior Vice President, Research & Data Insights

   Directed research for the New York office during the merger with Public Strategies and trained more than 20 account staff to use research in strategy.

3. 2005–2007
   Public Agenda Director of Research

   Led all research at the nonpartisan civic-engagement organization: focus groups and national surveys on education, philanthropy, foreign policy, aging research and public service. Presented findings at an average of three press conferences a month.

4. 1999–2011
   NBC News Exit Poll Desk Director

   Directed real-time exit poll analysis for NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC and Telemundo on national election nights, and served on the Exit Poll Pool Survey Committee.

   Emmy Award 2009 · Emmy nomination 2005
5. 1996–1999
   CBS News Deputy Director, News Surveys

   Designed and analyzed polls for CBS News and The New York Times in the 1996 and 1998 elections, vetted outside polls for CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes, and was on-air analyst for CBS Telenoticias.

6. 1993–1996
   University of Texas, Office of Survey Research Research Manager

   Managed more than 200 research projects in three years, lectured on research methods, and led Latino health-policy studies with the UT Health Science Center and the CDC.

7. 1992–1995
   Vision Research Founder and managing partner

   Bilingual, bicultural research firm in Austin: polling, focus groups and readership studies for the Los Angeles Times, La Opinión and others.

8. 1987–1990
   University of Costa Rica Field researcher

   Spanish-language field interviews for behavioral-risk studies.

Writing

Book and reports

• 2007Compassion, Concern and Conflicted Feelings: New Yorkers on Homelessness and HousingLead author · Public Agenda
• 2006Public Agenda Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index, Vol. 3: Anxious Public Sees Growing Dangers, Few SolutionsPublic Agenda with Foreign Affairs
• 2006Reality Check 2006: The Insiders: How Principals and Superintendents See Public Education TodayPublic Agenda
• 2006Reality Check 2006, Issue No. 3: Is Support for Standards and Testing Fading?Public Agenda
• 2006Long Overdue: A Fresh Look at Public and Leadership Attitudes About Libraries in the 21st CenturyContributor · Public Agenda
• 2006Reality Check 2006: Issue No. 2 - How Black and Hispanic Families Rate Their SchoolsPublic Agenda
• 2006Public Agenda Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index, Vol. 2: Americans Wary of Creating Democracies AbroadLead author · Public Agenda with Foreign Affairs
• 2006Reality Check 2006: Are Parents and Students Ready for More Math and Science?Public Agenda
• 2005The Science of Aging Gracefully: Scientists and the Public Talk about Aging ResearchPublic Agenda with the Alliance for Aging Research and AFAR
• 2005The Charitable Impulse: Those who give to charities and those who run them talk about what's needed to keep the public trustLead author · Public Agenda for the Kettering Foundation and Independent Sector
• 2005Public Agenda Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index: Americans Perplexed and Anxious About Relations with Muslim WorldLead author · Public Agenda with Foreign Affairs

The full list is on PolicyArchive.

Current work

Embeddedness distance

Contact

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