NORC researcher at work
Meeting in NORC's Bethesda office 
 A NORC research scientist uses Skype to stay in touch with international clients and project teams. Washington Monument in spring
NORC conducts studies about agriculture internationally and in the U.S. Flags NORC researchers at work

International Projects

Global development and financial assistance programs demand a broad range of research and analysis to ensure that they respond to the needs of the most vulnerable populations and that scarce resource are allocated in the most effective manner possible.  Towards this end, NORC’s International Projects (INPRO) department provides core expertise in rigorous impact evaluations, process and other implementation evaluations, analytic research, and surveys and other data collection methodologies. INPRO’s areas of subject matter expertise include agriculture, infrastructure, international finance, microfinance, housing finance/mortgage lending, think tank mentoring, business climate, land registration, and poverty alleviation.

NORC has had a history of work in the international arena since shortly after the organization was founded in 1941, when founder Harry Field convinced the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to include a survey division within its scope, and then inspired the establishment in 1946 of the World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR), an organization now represented by experts and scholars from more than 60 countries on six continents. In the 1960s, NORC led a five-nation study of public attitudes toward various political systems, and a national study of Canadian youth on their attitudes toward biculturalism and bilingualism. Two decades later, NORC worked with researchers in Japan and the Soviet Union to create comparability between variables used in surveys abroad to those used in the U.S.

In 1984, NORC was one of four research organizations ― the only one in the U.S. ― to found the worldwide social indicator research program, International Social Survey Program (ISSP), in its continued promotion of data collection that facilitates cross-national comparisons of social behavior and trends. Since then, ISSP has grown into a collaborative group of more than 40 member nations conducting surveys useful for social science research worldwide, and is supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Today, the INPRO team’s work spans more than 25 countries across all regions of the world. 

Special Expertise​

  • Democracy and Governance
  • Finance
    • Consumer Finance
    • Microfinance
  • Health
    • HIV/AIDS
    • Rural Health
  • Land Management and Administration
  • Poverty Alleviation
  • Roads and Infrastructure
  • Think Tanks
  • Statistics and Sampling
  • Study Design and Survey Methodology
  • Data Collection and Management
  • Program and Policy Analysis and Research
    • Evaluation
    • Impact Evaluation
    • Policy Analysis and Recommendation
    • Program Monitoring
    • Technical Assistance

Representative Projects

Bank of Spain Survey of Household Finances. The Survey of Household Finances collects data on the investment and financial decisions of Spanish households. It is the sole source of disaggregated data of its kind in Spain and forms an important source of data for research and public policy.  More

Design and Implementation of the Monitoring and Evaluation of the Competitive African Cotton for Pro-Poor Growth (COMPACI) Program. NORC is designing and conducting a large-scale monitoring and evaluation of the Competitive African Cotton for Pro-Poor Growth (COMPACI) Program in six African countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Malawi, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.  More

Development of Secondary Mortgage Facility in Rwanda. NORC assisted the Rwanda Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to implement its plan to reform housing finance in the countryand assess the feasibility of restructuring the Housing Bank of Rwanda (BHR) to be a secondary mortgage market facility. More

Diagnostic and Design for Simplification of Land Administration in Bangladesh. This project, for the Bangladesh Investment Climate Fund of the International Finance Corporation, focused on registration of property rights and transactions that are leading to informality in land markets and dissatisfaction with government services.  More

Egypt Think Tank Workshop. The Goverment of Egypt invited NORC to conduct a workshop in early 2011 on the management of think tanks and research projects. NORC conducted sessions on think tank organization, management, analysis plans, research quality control, and communication. More

See all International Projects projects

Headlines

All News

Published Research "Development of a Sustainable Market for Housing Finance in Armenia: Feasibility Study and Project Design.", Rabenhorst, C.S., Struyk, R.J., Diamond, D., Roy, F. and Butler, S.B., 2005 Download the PDF
Posted: 4.10.2012 11:19AM
Published Research "Improving State Land Approval Processes: From Administrative Simplification to Competitive Allocation.", Butler, S.B., 2012 More
Posted: 4.10.2012 11:02AM
Published Research "Vietnam: Improving Access to Land for Small and Medium Businesses.", Butler, S.B., Nimac, I., Hyuen, H.M. and Van, L.N., 2012 More
Posted: 4.10.2012 11:00AM
Published Research "Making Long-Term Leasing Work for the Land Market: Principles and Techniques.", Butler, S.B., 2012 More
Posted: 4.10.2012 10:58AM
Job Posting Senior Research Analyst - International Projects Department More
Posted: 4.9.2012 2:33PM
Job Posting Research Analyst – International Projects Department More
Posted: 4.9.2012 2:32PM
Job Posting Research Assistant - International Projects Department More
Posted: 4.9.2012 2:27PM
Published Research "Enforcement, Economic Instruments, and Water Pollution Abatement Investment in Romania.", Zinnes, C.F., Tarhoaca, C. and Popovici, M., 1999 More
Posted: 3.5.2012 3:44PM
Published Research "The Gains from Privatization in Transition Economies: Is 'Change of Ownership' Enough?", Sachs, J., Zinnes, C.F. and Eilat, Y., 2001 More
Posted: 3.5.2012 3:34PM
Published Research "The Shadow Economy in Transition Countries: Friend or Foe? A Policy Perspective.", Eilat, Y. and Zinnes, C.F., 2002 More
Posted: 3.5.2012 3:24PM
Published Research "NGO Growth in Transition Economies: A Cause or Effect of Legal Reform and Donor Aid?", Zinnes, C.F. and Bell, S., 2003 More
Posted: 3.5.2012 3:21PM
Published Research "Increasing the Effectiveness of Public Service Delivery: A Tournament Approach.", Zinnes, C.F., 2008 More
Posted: 3.5.2012 3:09PM
Published Research "Effective Development Assistance through Competition.", Zinnes, C.F., 2009 Download the PDF
Posted: 3.5.2012 3:01PM
Published Research "Tournament Approaches to Policy Reform: Making Development Assistance More Effective.", Zinnes, C.F., 2009 More
Posted: 3.5.2012 2:33PM
Published Research "Strategy Framework for the Assessment and Treatment of Fragile States.", Zinnes, C.F., 2010 More
Posted: 3.5.2012 2:26PM

News

Press Release Clifford Zinnes Named NORC Senior Fellow More
Posted: 2.24.2012 12:03PM

Events

Publications

"Development of a Sustainable Market for Housing Finance in Armenia: Feasibility Study and Project Design." Rabenhorst, C.S., Struyk, R.J., Diamond, D., Roy, F. and Butler, S.B., 2005 Download the PDF
Posted: 4.10.2012 11:19AM
"Improving State Land Approval Processes: From Administrative Simplification to Competitive Allocation." Butler, S.B., 2012 More
Posted: 4.10.2012 11:02AM
"Vietnam: Improving Access to Land for Small and Medium Businesses." Butler, S.B., Nimac, I., Hyuen, H.M. and Van, L.N., 2012 More
Posted: 4.10.2012 11:00AM
"Making Long-Term Leasing Work for the Land Market: Principles and Techniques." Butler, S.B., 2012 More
Posted: 4.10.2012 10:58AM
"Enforcement, Economic Instruments, and Water Pollution Abatement Investment in Romania." Zinnes, C.F., Tarhoaca, C. and Popovici, M., 1999 More
Posted: 3.5.2012 3:44PM
"The Gains from Privatization in Transition Economies: Is 'Change of Ownership' Enough?" Sachs, J., Zinnes, C.F. and Eilat, Y., 2001 More
Posted: 3.5.2012 3:34PM
"The Shadow Economy in Transition Countries: Friend or Foe? A Policy Perspective." Eilat, Y. and Zinnes, C.F., 2002 More
Posted: 3.5.2012 3:24PM
"NGO Growth in Transition Economies: A Cause or Effect of Legal Reform and Donor Aid?" Zinnes, C.F. and Bell, S., 2003 More
Posted: 3.5.2012 3:21PM
"Increasing the Effectiveness of Public Service Delivery: A Tournament Approach." Zinnes, C.F., 2008 More
Posted: 3.5.2012 3:09PM
"Effective Development Assistance through Competition." Zinnes, C.F., 2009 Download the PDF
Posted: 3.5.2012 3:01PM
"Tournament Approaches to Policy Reform: Making Development Assistance More Effective." Zinnes, C.F., 2009 More
Posted: 3.5.2012 2:33PM
"Strategy Framework for the Assessment and Treatment of Fragile States." Zinnes, C.F., 2010 More
Posted: 3.5.2012 2:26PM
"Managing Think Tanks: Practical Guidance for Maturing Organizations." Struyk, R.J., 2011 More
Posted: 10.24.2011 11:21AM
"Licensed Lenders' Services to Indonesian SMEs: 'Mystery Shopping' Results." Struyk, R.J. and Haddaway, S.R., 2011 More
Posted: 10.18.2011 11:28AM
"Access and Affordability: Home Purchase Certificates." Struyk, R.J., 2012 (forthcoming) More
Posted: 10.17.2011 4:54PM

Job Postings

Senior Research Analyst - International Projects Department More
Posted: 4.9.2012 2:33PM
Research Analyst – International Projects Department More
Posted: 4.9.2012 2:32PM
Research Assistant - International Projects Department More
Posted: 4.9.2012 2:27PM