Welcome!
Abacus Evaluation is a Research Service Center committed to amplifying the impact and effectiveness of programs, centers, and projects through innovative evaluation strategies, state of the art data analysis methods, and collaborative research design. While Abacus specializes in evaluation, our team will also partner with your team from early planning to program design to data collection, management, and analysis to reporting to ensure that you build and enact a robust and comprehensive program/project.
The Abacus team brings extensive experience in researching and evaluating programs at the local, state, and national levels. We see evaluation as the means by which to identify areas for growth and innovation, drive change, empower communities, and amplify a program’s effectiveness and impact. The team is passionate about helping our partners achieve their aims while understanding if, why, and how they are making authentic, lasting change through their work.
Abacus services include:
1. Evaluation Design & Leadership service is led by senior evaluation leaders and staff with expertise in process, outcome, and impact evaluation. Services include evaluation design, mixed-method development, measurement monitoring, and evaluation results interpretation and recommendation. Experts collaborate with teams to identify goals and appropriate supporting evaluation activities that offer integrated, action-oriented evaluation findings to improve programs.
2. Evaluation Implementation & Support services are provided by the junior and mid-level staff with guidance from a senior leader. Evaluation implementation and support include activities carrying out the evaluation design, tracking and monitoring of the evaluation plan, preparation of data instruments and collection of data (qualitative and quantitative), survey development and respondent outreach, analysis of data, reporting, and preparation of dissemination materials. Support services are present throughout an evaluation, including literature review, evaluation framework selection and input, alignment and coordination with client partners and teams, internal work plan and project management, and other activities to ensure timely and responsive evaluation is implemented.
3. Data Solutions & Advanced Analytics service is led by senior data analytics leaders and staff and includes technically challenging data wrangling and cleaning, systems modeling, systems change analysis, spatial analysis, network analytics, and statistical expertise. These advanced analytic services address the complexity of data, relational data management, and the use and interpretation of data and statistical model results.
4. Data Management, Analysis, & Visualization service is supported by the all staff with guidance from a senior leader. Data management, analysis, and visualization may include information design, selection of appropriate charts and graphics, exploratory data analysis and leading of data reviews, development of data products such as dashboards or data briefs, and supporting general data preparation activities and use by evaluation teams. Data support may also include collecting, coding, memoing, synthesizing qualitative data, collaborating with teams to define data needs and design data collection systems, providing workshop support, and support for advanced analytics projects.
Gaurav Dave
Director
Michelle Song
Associate Director of Data Science & Analytics
Amelia DeFosset
Associate Director of Evaluation Services
Rachel Quinto
Associate Director of Operations
Mary Wolfe McKinley
Associate Director of Research Innovation and Development
| Hours | Location |
| M-F, 8:00a-5:00p ET | 323 MacNider Hall 333 South Columbia Street |
| Campus Box 7240 | |
| Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7240 |
| Name | Role | Phone | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Abacus Email |
abacus@unc.edu
|
