Meet IMMR leadership and learn more their professional backgrounds, research experience and expertise, and engagement opportunities.
Michelle serves as President (co-founder) of the Institute for Mixed Methods Research (IMMR) with an academic appointment as Adjunct Professor at the University of Canberra, Australia. She has over twenty years’ experience as an academic and has authored multiple books and academic papers including her co-authored books: Qualitative Research Writing: Credible and Trustworthy Writing from Beginning to End and Qualitative and Mixed Methods Data Analysis Using Dedoose: A Practical Approach for Research Across the Social Sciences.
Michelle is a specialist in qualitative and mixed methods research design and analysis, and works as an international consultant in: program evaluation; research design; and mixed-methods and qualitative data analysis using QDAS. In addition, she is a credentialed project management professional (PMP) and senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy, United Kingdom.
Her research focus is to better understand how to support doctoral success and strengthen the research process; and build data-driven decision-making capacity through technological innovation. Recent research includes exploring the changing practices of qualitative research during the dissertation phase of doctoral studies, and investigating how we bring learning into the use of technology during the research process. Michelle is currently working on projects with researchers from education, information systems, business communication, leadership, and finance.
Dr. Lieber has served 20+ years as an interdisciplinary social scientist and co-director of the UCLA Center for Culture and Health Research Lab. He brings extensive expertise as a quantitative research psychologist, quantitative and qualitative data analyst, and mixed methods research consultant. Having served in this practical application service role for most of his career, he most enjoys bringing this experience and insight into developing and implementing strategies and solutions for social science purposes.
Eli’s experience and expertise with the design and application of quantitative and qualitative methods and subsequent data analysis has proven ideal for his present focus on methods development and leveraging the value of technology in this pursuit—his contributions to the development of Dedoose being one primary outcome.
Beyond technology and consulting, Dr. Lieber’s research interests include the socio-cultural and historical impacts on motivation and achievement, disease transmission and prevention, Asian and Asian immigrant family experiences, literacy development, children with Type 1 diabetes and their families, social cognitive development, parenting, and the general adaptation of families and youth to the challenges of immigration and a modernizing world. He received his B.A. in Psychology from California State University, Northridge (1988) and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana (1996). In addition to his work with IMMR, Eli currently holds the positions of Associate Research Psychologist, UCLA; and CEO of SocioCultural Research Consultants, LLC.
Dr. Sara E. Grummert holds a dual appointment with Dedoose and the Institute for Mixed Methods Research. In her role with IMMR, she leads strategy around how to support the larger academic and research community through data analysis and writing seminars, conducting methods consultations and training workshops, and partnering with other scholars on research design, data collection, and data analysis for educational grants. Dr. Grummert earned her doctorate at the University of California Riverside in the field of higher education administration and policy. Her areas of methods expertise include qualitative research design, qualitative data analysis, and advancing the use of visual methods.
Her broader body of scholarship examines whiteness and antiblackness in higher education, with a focus on how college sport functions in relation to state violence. Additionally, Sara is a Senior Research Associate in the Center for Athlete Rights and Equity at the University of California Riverside where she also teaches courses related to research methods and higher education.
