Rockville Institute Affiliates in
Qualitative Methods

Mary Achatz, PhD
Susan G. Berkowitz, PhD
Cynthia S. Robins, PhD
Debra J. Rog, PhD
Izabella Zandberg, PhD

Mary Achatz, PhD, has extensive experience in designing large-scale and mixed methods evaluations, analyzing complex data sets, training and supervising survey researchers and ethnographers, briefing diverse audiences on research findings and their implications for policy and practice, and writing concept papers and analytic reports. She has a strong foundation in quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, with special expertise in instrument design, random assignment, intensive interviews, and formative and community action research. Dr. Achatz has taught research and evaluation methods to diverse groups, including university students in the United States and Africa, staff in major philanthropic organizations, program operators, and community residents in isolated neighborhoods. Her fields of expertise include the evaluation of community change initiatives, systems change, network theory and measurement, results-based accountability, civic engagement and participation, learning communities, children's health and school readiness, and workforce development systems.
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Susan G. Berkowitz, PhD, is an anthropologist with extensive experience designing, conducting, and directing qualitative and mixed method studies; training others in these approaches; and presenting on methodological topics both nationally and internationally. Her research has included in-depth, semi-structured, and open-ended interviews, observations, focus groups, textual analysis of documents, process and implementation evaluations, as well as ethnographic case study methods, often employed in conjunction with quantitative techniques. Dr. Berkowitz has co-edited and co-authored a book on needs assessment research for which she wrote all the chapters on research design and methods, has written a handbook chapter on qualitative data analysis, and has conducted professional workshops in qualitative data analysis and use of mixed method approaches. Her work includes ethnographic studies of mafia and gender in southern Italy; evaluations of health media campaigns, public-private partnerships, community collaborations, and housing and social service delivery programs to low-income elderly; and in-depth analyses of youth career decisionmaking.
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Cynthia S. Robins, PhD, is an anthropologist whose primary research focus is on community-based mental health service delivery and the political economy of psychiatric treatment in the United States. She has conducted qualitative research (ethnographic studies, process evaluations, in-depth interviews) on an array of topics, including mental health consumers' perceptions of trauma and harm in hospital settings, seniors' experiences with Medicare managed care, and the cultural impacts on various job-training initiatives (women in nontraditional occupations, economically disadvantaged youth). Dr. Robins is nationally recognized for promoting the use of qualitative methods in mental health services research and has been integral to the development of a working meeting sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health.
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Debra J. Rog, PhD, has extensive experience in program evaluation research and applied social research, and is known for her expertise in homelessness. She has managed a number of multisite research and evaluation projects in the areas of poverty, homelessness, housing for vulnerable populations, mental health, and applied research methodology. Dr. Rog recently has led a series of evaluability assessments of childhood obesity prevention projects for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She has provided project management and subject-matter expertise for research funded by clients such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Center for Mental Health Services, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the National Mental Health Association, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, among others. Dr. Rog has published and presented widely on mental health treatment issues, program evaluation, and applied research methodological topics and is a recognized expert in evaluation methodology, homelessness, and mental health. She is an editor on numerous books, series, and journals. Dr. Rog is also the President of the American Evaluation Association.
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Izabella Zandberg, PhD, is a social scientist with experience in designing and implementing all phases of research projects. She has expertise in qualitative methods, with a special focus on in-depth interviews, discourse analysis, and ethnography, as well as analysis of qualitative data and integration of qualitative and quantitative methods. Dr. Zandberg has worked in the areas of health communication, health studies, education policy, intercultural and international communication, mass media effects, cultural studies, and advertising. She has authored book chapters, published in professional journals, and presented at international and national conferences on various aspects of qualitative and mixed-method analyses.
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