By Betsy DeGeorge

Consider the setting: Peru, 1936. The locale, known as the Eyebrow of the Jungle, is on the eastern slope of the Andes. A small band of researchers moves on a narrow trail across the green face of the canyon. The leader, wearing a leather jacket, flapped holster, and fedora, with a bullwhip at hand, is none other than Indiana Jones, making his first appearance in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

A few scenes later, Indy is back in his office at a small eastern college. His outfit is tweedy and slightly rumpled. He’s wearing glasses, and his cramped office is inundated with books, papers, and trophies from his travels.

Hollywood has worked its magic. The charisma of Harrison Ford and the genius of George Lucas have convinced us that all a frumpy college professor needs is a bullwhip and a good sound track to get the fieldwork done.

But, alas, most research and scholarly field study is not as exciting as trekking through the rain forest or searching hidden chambers of archaeological digs. And the collection of data is a careful process, far removed from Indiana Jones’s assessment to an Egyptian excavator, “I’m making this up as I go.” Real research, at least at UT’s Center for Applied Research and Evaluation (CARE), is all about planning and painstaking work.

Never Take a Data Set for Granted

“If you go into research,” says Linda Daugherty, assistant director of CARE, “you should never take a data set for granted. No serious researcher underestimates the importance of unbiased data that have been accurately gathered, recorded, and documented. No matter how sophisticated or statistically savvy the analysis may be, the end result of a research project will never be any better than the initial data.”

Maryanne Cunningham (left), meets with Linda Daugherty (center), and SWORPS Director Paul Campbell (right).

This meticulous approach to research methodology, inquiry design, and data collection is an attribute of the work of CARE. The Center provides practical frontline support for research throughout the university, based on broad expertise and experience. CARE—formerly the Social Science Research Institute in the College of Arts and Sciences—and its current parent organization, the Social Work Office of Research and Public Service (SWORPS), have over 30 years of history in delivering research and program evaluation services using a wide variety of qualitative and quantitative research methods.

While researchers like Indiana Jones dodge bullets and drop into pits of slithering serpents (“Snakes!” Indy exclaims. “Why did it have to be snakes!”), most non-cinematic researchers face less venomous challenges; yet many still find item-by-item data collection to be like trying to get too many snakes into one bag. At the center, theoretical inquiry becomes real-life adventure. Here, where a phone call is made to a random telephone number or a survey is received from the recipient of a mass mailing, each datum represents a person with a voice or a pen and a perspective. And it is in this theater of true fieldwork that the center plays a leading role for important research scenarios.

Supporting All Researchers

CARE provides a data-collection structure for researchers in all disciplines. The team of research support personnel has experience in managing all kinds and stages of data collection, from setting up a tourism focus group in Gatlinburg to gathering and comparing census data for a social service action plan in Knoxville. Researchers studying the effects of welfare reform have used CARE’s services to successfully design and implement a long-term study. Using a postcard/telephone/gift certificate methodology to contact people who received support through Families First, the group has maintained an impressive 70 percent response rate over ten years.

One of the 22 telephone data collection stations operated by CARE.

The CARE team includes experts who can create validated surveys, design statistical and data analyses, determine sample size, develop evaluation plans, track data and guarantee quality assurance, write reports, and produce high-quality online and print presentations.

Maryanne Cunningham, an associate director of SWORPS and the person responsible for bringing CARE into the college, is excited to add the data-collection tools of the 21st century to the toolbox of skills and expertise that her office uses to serve clients across the state of Tennessee. “Our 22-station phone bank,” she notes, “now allows us to keep our own telephone data collection in-house. With CARE as part of the SWORPS organization, we can offer more in-house options to meet the needs of our clients.”

SWORPS and CARE may never find a place on the big screen, but their merger is a blockbuster when it comes to providing effective services for those researchers more interested in crack data collection than the crack of Indiana Jones’s bullwhip.

Contact CARE

CARE welcomes inquiries from university departments, government agencies, and non-profit and for-profit organizations. For more information on how CARE meets the research and program evaluation needs of researchers, contact Maryanne Cunningham (mcunningham@utk.edu) at 865-974-7514 or Linda Daugherty (lindad@utk.edu) at 865-974-2730.