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NORC at the University Chicago

Shannon Nelson

Pronouns: She/Her

Senior Research Director
Economics, Justice & Society
Shannon is a resourceful project director specializing in the design and execution of multi-mode data collections and interviewer training programs.

Shannon is a senior research director in the Economics, Justice & Society department. She manages all aspects of data collection for complex field studies for government, academic, and non-profit institutions, including project design, instrument development, technical specifications, data delivery and reporting. She is focused on what data collection will look like in the post-COVID period and how project teams need to adapt to new realities.

Shannon specializes in coordinating and executing multi-mode, longitudinal efforts to collect data from vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations, particularly youth. These efforts include working with a variety of institutions including non-profit organizations, public health departments, school districts and elementary and secondary schools.

Shannon is currently part of the leadership team for the 2022 round of the Survey of Consumer Finances, the country’s preeminent data source on the financial situations of US households; manages data collection for the Head Start Connects Descriptive Study; and leads efforts to test the FDIC’s 2023 National Survey of Households and develop a national database on police use of force for the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.   

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Expertise

Education

MA

University of Illinois at Chicago

BA

Aurora University

Project Contributions

Survey of Consumer Finances

The only fully representative source of data on the financial condition of U.S. households

Client:

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Developing a National Database on Police Use of Force

The nation’s first police database that combines police data across multiple cities

Client:

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Head Start-to-Kindergarten Transitions Project

The first rigorous, system-level study of the factors that drive successful kindergarten transitions

Client:

Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families

Publications

Research Library & Findings