Consultation

The Institute for Social Science Research offers free consultation and short courses on quantitative and qualitative methods computing packages for students, faculty, and other members of the UMass-Amherst research community. 

Free Consultation

Our consulting service is staffed by a team of advanced graduate students who provide consultation by appointment.  The team also offers short courses in specific methods and data program packages.  The ISSR Research Methodologist, Jessica Pearlman, is also available for consulting appointments with faculty and graduate students, as well as to assist with the methods sections of grant proposals. 

Please Note: Consultation services will resume at the start of the Fall 2017 semester.

*Support for the ISSR Methodology Consultants is generously provided by the UMass Graduate School.

Areas of expertise

Research Design, Data Collection and Processing

  • Research design
  • Experimental design
  • Survey design
  • Semi-structured interviewing methods
  • Participant observation
  • Data management, coding, and processing
  • Questionnaire design and survey implementation
  • Public secondary data sources (Census, Bureau of Economic Analysis, etc.)

Quantitative Analysis

  • Descriptive analysis and simple hypothesis testing
  • Multivariate linear regression
  • Logistic and Probit regression, including multinomial and ordered approaches
  • Methods for count data, including poisson and negative binomial models
  • Longitudinal data analysis, including fixed and random effects
  • Event history and survival analysis
  • Multi-level modeling for linear and nonlinear outcomes
  • Factor and principal components analysis
  • Cluster analysis and latent class analysis
  • Structural equation models and simultaneous equation models
  • Propensity score matching
  • Imputation methods for missing data
  • Data visualization and graphics
  • Survey sampling methods (including weighting)
  • Spatial data analysis
  • Nonparametric tests
  • Bayesian statistics
  • Signal detection analysis
  • Mathematical modeling of cognition

Qualitative Analysis

  • Coding qualitative data
  • Archival research
  • Content analysis
  • Use of descriptive statistics in qualitative research
  • Design of comparative and case study-based research

Software Platforms

  • ArcGIS
  • GeoDA
  • GPower
  • LaTeX
  • Matlab
  • Mplus
  • Python
  • Qualtrics
  • NVivo
  • R
  • Resampling Stats
  • SAS
  • SPSS​
  • STATA

*Support for the ISSR Methodology Consultants is generously provided by the UMass Graduate School.

Fee-for-Service Consultation

ISSR also offers private, customized fee-based consultations specific to principal investigators’ research activities, as well as customized workshops.

To request private fee-for-service consultations, please email a description of your needs to issr@issr.umass.edu.