Activities

Upcoming Events

Prove & Improve: Community Data & Evaluation Skill-Building Series
June 1- June 5, 2026
REGISTER
Attendees are welcome to select individual sessions to attend, or to register for the entire event. However, attendees for any session should also register for the June 1, 10am Kickoff; this will orient attendees to the series.

Are you wondering how to advance data-informed decision-making and understanding of impact? Curious about how to incorporate evaluation into your organization’s programming?

Join us for a week-long skill-building series on data and evaluation! This free, virtual event is specifically intended for community, public, and nonprofit entities. Throughout the week we will offer 9 different sessions which discuss evaluation, survey design, qualitative data collection, mixed methods, university/community research & evaluation partnerships, effective data visualization, and culturally responsive evaluation and research. We will also offer office hours for personalized feedback.

Registration is limited; if reaching capacity, we will prioritize those based in or serving the North Carolina Triangle area.

This program is presented by the Duke University Social Science Research Institute and Duke Office of Evaluation and Applied Research Partnership. It includes partnership from the Center for Community-Engaged Scholarship, Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and Center for Data Visualization Services.

SCHEDULE

Monday, June 1

10am: Kickoff: Community/Constituent Engagement in Evaluation/Research

2pm: Evaluation to Prove and Improve

 

Tuesday, June 2

10am: Survey Design and Implementation

2pm: Qualitative Data Collection

 

Wednesday, June 3

10am: Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Research

2pm: Effective Data Visualization

 

Thursday, June 4

10am: Mixed Methods Evaluation and Research Design

2pm: University/Community Partnered Research (hybrid)

*A meet and greet for networking with other community organizations will follow the in-person session*

 

Friday, June 5

10am: SEED Atlas: Tool to Map Social Drivers of Health

 

Office hours will be held on Monday through Friday from 12-1pm for those interested in asking more in-depth questions.  Information on how to access office hours will be provided with your registration confirmation.

 

SESSION DESCRIPTIONS

Evaluation to Prove and Improve

This session addresses the development of evaluation design and the implementation of evaluation in practice, with a focus on how to develop evaluation that is both meaningful and feasible. Ultimately, this session will help organizations build capacity to utilize data-informed decision-making, understand impact, and improve impact.

 

Survey Design and Implementation

This session offers practical guidance on minimizing common sources of error in survey research and maximizing data quality. Participants will learn key principles of survey design and implementation, including effective questionnaire design, trade-offs between survey modes, and thoughtful sampling strategies.

 

Qualitative Data Collection

This workshop will introduction participants to a range of qualitative research methods (including in-depth interviews, focus groups, archival analysis, and participant observation) as well as an overview of the strengths and challenges of each approach. We will also provide a brief introduction to various types of analysis.

 

Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Research

This session will address the reasons to consider culturally responsive and culturally appropriate evaluation and research practices, and it will address specific practices that can help to improve cultural responsiveness. Within these topics, it will also speak to participatory evaluation, research, and data practices.

 

Effective Data Visualization

Visualization is a powerful way to reveal patterns in data, attract attention, and get your message across to an audience quickly and clearly. This session will help you avoid some common pitfalls and employ a few simple techniques to tell your data stories more effectively.

 

Mixed Methods Evaluation and Research Design

This session will introduce strategies for combining qualitative and quantitative research methods. We will address when it is appropriate to use each method, the strengths of combining these methods, and the challenges this can introduce. We will also address how to determine what we learn from qualitative and quantitative methods together and how to share results to make a case.

 

University/Community Partnered Research (hybrid)

*This session will be hybrid with a virtual and in-person option. The in-person session will be held at Erwin Mill A103.

*We will be holding a meet and greet with refreshments for networking with other community organizations after the in-person session at 3:30pm*

This session will address how research partnerships with universities can be helpful for community organizations/initiatives, challenges that may be experienced in these partnerships, different ways to initiate research partnerships, and strategies and considerations for making community/university research partnerships as valuable and productive as possible.  This session will help prepare community organizations to consider and engage in research partnership with universities.

 

SEED Atlas: Tool to Map Social Drivers of Health

This session walks participants through the  Social, Environmental, and Equity Drivers (SEED) of Health Atlas resource – a digital platform that provides an interactive repository of health and “social drivers of health” (SDOH) data and an approachable way to engage with these data. This will help participants learn how to use this resource and consider potential uses for their organization.

REGISTER

 

Partners

Our efforts are focused on university and health system partners, initiatives, and entities, as well as external community partners and community initiatives. We work with Duke faculty, staff and programs, students, and community partners.

Areas of Focus and Expertise

We provide varied partnership and services around the themes of applied research, evaluation, and community-engaged research partnership. Areas of focus include:

• Applied research and evaluation design and planning;
• Logic model and theory of change development;
• Data collection, measurement, data management, and analysis, drawing on a variety of quantitative and qualitative data collection (e.g., survey, interview, focus group) and analysis processes;
• Collaborative and community-engaged research processes, particularly where aligned with evaluation; and
• Communication of results and learnings in various forms, including for key stakeholders, academic, and applied audiences.