Bethany Smith, Ph.D.

Research Analyst, works on a project for the US Department of Education to evaluate the National Resources Centers grant program. Prior to KCI, she has worked on a variety of research projects, applying skills in statistical data analysis, survey design and implementation, qualitative research, report writing, and administrative management. She is proficient with several analytical software programs, including SAS, SPSS, ArcGIS, and advanced Excel. She also has experience working with different survey platforms such as SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics, and WinCati.

Dr. Smith has experience with both conducting primary research and performing secondary data analysis. She has overseen data collection through RDD sampling, web-based surveys, door-to-door polling, focus groups, and content analysis. She has analyzed data using basic descriptive statistics, t-tests, OLS regression, binary and multinomial logistic regression, geospatial analysis, and multilevel modeling. Her research has focused on a variety of topics: education, entrepreneurship, homeownership, population health, and community programs. She has worked with clients from both the public and private sectors, providing high-quality data and research reports to design, evaluate, and/or improve policies and programs. Dr. Smith received her Ph.D. in Applied Sociology from Baylor University. She also holds Bachelor’s Degrees in Business Administration and Social Science.