By Dr. Fatima T. Zahra Hello, my name is Fatima T. Zahra. I am an Assistant Professor of Evaluation, Statistics, and Methodology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. My research… Read more: Empathy in Evaluation: A Meta-Analysis Comparing Evaluation Models in Refugee and Displaced Settings

By Jennifer Ann Morrow, Ph.D. Data, like life, can be messy. I’ve worked with all types of data, both collected by me and by my clients, for over 25 years… Read more: Is Your Data Dirty? The Importance of Conducting Frequencies First

By M. Andrew Young We’ve all heard (and likely said) “Nobody’s perfect!”, but do we really know how to give ourselves (and others) the proper amount of empathy?  Hello, my… Read more: Giving Yourself Room to Grow is Critical to Long-Term Wellbeing, and In Turn, Success

By Dr. Jennifer Ann Morrow Data Cleaning Step 2: Create a Data Analysis Plan Hi again! For those that read my earlier blog on Data Cleaning Step 1: Create a… Read more: Clean, Correlate, and Compare: The Importance of Having a Data Analysis Plan

By Jessica Osborne, Ph.D. Jessica is the Principal Evaluation Associate for the Higher Education Portfolio at The Center for Research Evaluation at the University of Mississippi. She earned a PhD… Read more: Grant Writing in Evaluation

By: Sara Hall As a graduate student in Evaluation, Statistics, and Measurement, I’ve learned a thing or two about fit. Not just in terms of statistical models, but in my… Read more: Finding Fit: A Statistical Journey

By Richard Amoako As a doctoral student of Evaluation, Statistics, and Methodology (ESM), I am constantly immersed in a world of evolving research methods. Advanced technologies and artificial intelligence (AI)… Read more: Emerging Research Methodologies in the Age of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data

By Paul Kirkland, Ph.D. Hi! My name is Paul Kirkland and I am currently the Grant Manager for Monroe County Schools, located in East Tennessee. I am also currently an… Read more: Skills Needed to be a Grant Manager

By Jennifer Ann Morrow, Ph.D. Hi! My name is Jennifer Ann Morrow and I’m the Program Coordinator for the Evaluation Methodology MS program and an Associate Professor in Evaluation Statistics… Read more: Learn About our Evaluation Graduate Programs at UTK!

By Louis Rocconi, Ph.D. and Joshua Rosenberg, Ph.D. Do you work in an educational setting? Do you love using data? Do you want to learn how to use R to… Read more: Educational Data Analytics Using R: A free, self-paced resource!

By M. Andrew Young Hello, my name is M. Andrew Young. I’m a third-year Ph.D. student in the Evaluation, Statistics and Methodology program in the Educational Leadership & Policy Studies… Read more: Common “Dirty Data” Problems I Encounter and How to Save Time Fixing Them

Author: Austin Boyd, Ph.D. I love watching YouTube. When I began college, I gave up on cable and during my free time I started watching YouTube instead. There was just… Read more: The Parasocial Relationships in Social Media Survey: What is it and why did I create it?

Author: Louis Rocconi, Ph.D. In this blog post, I want to introduce you to the R package mlmhelpr, which my colleague and ESM alumni, Dr. Anthony Schmidt, and I created.… Read more: mlmhelper: An R helper package for estimating multilevel models

By J.A. Morrow Data Cleaning Step 1: Create a Data Codebook  As some of you, know I love data cleaning. Weird I know, but I have always found it relaxing… Read more: Organizing your Evaluation Data: The Importance of Having a Comprehensive Data Codebook

By Dr. Austin Boyd Research is the backbone of the academic world. It provides us with a ​​​​better understanding of the world around us and allows knowledge to be passed… Read more: The Conventional and Unconventional Places I’ve Found Research Ideas

By Anthony Schmidt When I began the ESM program in 2018, I was unsure of the career path I would follow. I knew I wanted to do “research” on something… Read more: ESM: Building Blocks for a Data Science Career

By Richard Amoako Greetings, fellow scholars and aspiring professionals. As someone who is still relatively new to the field of evaluation, I can’t emphasize enough the significance of building a… Read more: Finding Your People: The Importance of Mentorship and Networking Early On

By M. Andrew Young Hello! My name is M. Andrew Young. I’m a second-year Ph.D. student in the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Evaluation, Statistics, and Methodology (ESM) program in the… Read more: To Evaluate, or to Be Evaluated? That is the Question.

By Jake Working Introduction  You might have heard the recent rumblings in the statistics world: null hypothesis significance testing, statistical significance, p-values, our beloved p-value, have been coming into question.… Read more: Wait, I Can’t Use p < 0.05?

By Tiffany Tovey, Ph.D. Greetings, fellow explorers of evaluation! I’m Tiffany Tovey, a fellow nerd​,​​ ​UTK alum​,​ and practitioner on a constantly evolving professional and personal journey, navigating the waters… Read more: Reflecting on a Decade After ESM: My Continuing Journey as an Evaluation Practitioner and Scholar

By Austin Boyd  Every measurement, evaluation, statistics, and assessment (MESA) professional, whether they ​are​ established educators and practitioners or aspiring students, engages with academic literature in some capacity. Sometimes for… Read more: How Do I Critically Consume Quantitative Research?

By S. Nicole Jones, Ph.D.  Hello! My name is Nicole Jones, and I am a 2022 graduate of the Evaluation, Statistics, and Methodology (ESM) PhD program at the University of… Read more: Engaging Students in Online, Asynchronous Courses: Strategies for Success

By Jennifer Ann Morrow, Ph.D.  Introduction:  Hi! My name is Jennifer Ann Morrow and I’m an Associate Professor in Evaluation Statistics and Methodology at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. I have… Read more: Careers in Program Evaluation: Finding and Applying for a Job as a Program Evaluator

By Meredith Massey, Ph.D.  Who I am Greetings! I’m Dr. Meredith Massey. I finished my PhD in Evaluation, Statistics, and Methodology (ESM) at UTK in the Fall of 2023. In… Read more: How My Dissertation Came to be through ESM’s Support and Guidance

By Dr. Jennifer Ann Morrow  Hi everyone! My name is Dr. Jennifer Ann Morrow, and I’m the program coordinator for the University of Tennessee at Knoxville’s new distance education master’s… Read more: Introducing the Evaluation Methodology MS Program at UTK!

By Dr. Brenna Butler Hi, I’m Dr. Brenna Butler, and I’m currently an Evaluation Specialist at Penn State Extension (https://extension.psu.edu/brenna-butler). I graduated from the ESM Ph.D. program in May 2021,… Read more: Evaluation Capacity Building: What is it, and is a Job Doing it a Good Fit for Me?

By M. Andrew Young Hello! My name is M. Andrew Young. I am a second-year Ph.D. student in the Evaluation, Statistics, and Methodology Ph.D. program here at UT-Knoxville. I currently… Read more: Timing is Everything… Or Is It? How Do We Incentivize Survey Participation?

By Louis Rocconi, Ph.D.  Hi, blog world! My name is Louis Rocconi, and I am an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator in the Evaluation, Statistics, and Methodology program at The… Read more: Making the Most of Your Survey Items: Item Analysis

By Kiley Compton Hello! My name is Kiley Compton and I am a fourth-year doctoral student in UT’s Evaluation, Statistics, and Methodology (ESM) program. My research interests include program evaluation,… Read more: Are Evaluation PhD Programs Offering Training in Qualitative and Mixed Design Methodologies

By Austin Boyd Every measurement, evaluation, statistics, and assessment (MESA) professional ​​​​​​​​has their own “bag of tricks” to help them get the job done​,​ their go-to set of evaluation, statistical,… Read more: Learning to Learn New Research Methods: How Watching YouTube Helped Me Complete My First Client Facing Project

By M. Andrew Young Hello! My name is M. Andrew Young. I am a second-year Ph.D. student in the Evaluation, Statistics, and Methodology Ph.D. program here at UT-Knoxville. I currently… Read more: The What, When, Why, and How of Formative Evaluation of Instruction

By Richard Amoako Greetings! My name is Richard Dickson Amoako. I am a second year PhD. student in Evaluation, Statistics, and Methodology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. My research… Read more: Evaluation in the Age of Emerging Technologies

By Jennifer Ann Morrow, PhD. What does it take to be a competent higher education assessment professional? What skills and dispositions are needed in order to be successful in this… Read more: So, You Want to Be a Higher Education Assessment Professional? What Skills and Dispositions are Essential?

By Jake Working  Whether you’ve taken a statistics class, recently read a report from your data analyst, or simply want to make data-driven decisions, something about statistics just clicked with… Read more: So I Like Statistics, Now What?

From the Faculty of the Evaluation, Statistics, & Methodology PhD Program! Hello and welcome to our new blog. We are MAD about Methods! As faculty who have been involved in… Read more: Introducing the Blog!