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NORC collects high-quality data around the world to inform program and policy decisions in global development.

International development needs constantly evolve as countries’ economic, social, and political landscapes change. Development organizations need timely, high-quality data to plan and implement projects with maximum impact.

With experience in over 100 countries, where we train and develop longstanding relationships with local data collection firms, NORC is a leader in all aspects of quantitative and qualitative data collection design and implementation. We set the worldwide standard in efficiently conducting scientifically rigorous surveys, including advancing technical knowledge in:

  • survey methodology
  • cognitive testing of survey questions
  • randomized-response protocols
  • list and behavioral experiments
  • translation of surveys into multiple languages
  • sampling, imputation, and weighting

Our state-of-the-art quality-control processes ensure unbiased, accurate quantitative datasets and user-friendly transcripts for qualitative data. Our comprehensive suite of services for data anonymity and data documentation provides a solution to any request.

NORC applies innovative methods to data collection globally, using:

  • time-location, web-scraped, and social-network-based sampling
  • trained-observer ratings
  • web scraping and Big Data for machine learning applications
  • administrative data from institutional sources
  • integration of geospatial data into data collection and analysis

NORC’s survey experience ranges from small to larger longitudinal and cross-sectional studies, with sample sizes ranging from 500 to over 10,000 respondents, sometimes dispersed across multiple countries. Using the web, tablets or laptops, telephone, mail, and in-person interviews, NORC surveys a wide range of populations and subpopulations, achieving high response rates that enhance the value of data, including among hard-to-reach populations. We are experienced in deploying household, school, and firm surveys to collect data on:

  • respondent knowledge, attitudes, and practices
  • household finances and income-generation activities
  • students’ reading and academic skills
  • anthropometric measurements of children
  • physical measurements of farm size and soil quality
  • exposure to trauma
  • transport data such as maritime time-release and vehicle origin-destination
  • individuals’ access to government and environmental services

Under USAID’s Democracy Rights and Governance, Learning, Evaluation, and Research (DRG-LER I and II) contracts alone, NORC collected survey and qualitative data in over 50 countries in Eastern Europe, Africa, South Asia, and South America. In Kenya, for USAID Feed the Future, we listed all households in sampled areas, completed the random selection process, and conducted over 6,000 interviews with multiple household members detailing food consumption, procurement, and production of agricultural goods, soil samples, measurement of farm plots, and anthropometric measurements of women and children. For the US Department of State, we used state-of-the-art Respondent-Driven Sampling (RDS) and Network Scale-Up Method (NSUM) sampling to measure forced-labor counts and prevalence rates among domestic workers in Morocco.

For qualitative research, NORC designs and implements facilitation guides for focus group discussions (FGDs), structured interview guides for key informant interviews (KIIs), and data collection forms for site visits and observation studies. Additionally, in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we have extended our capabilities in remote data-collection modalities for qualitative and quantitative fieldwork. In Ukraine, we examined the Enhance Non-Governmental Actors and Grassroots Engagement Project’s approach to civic education, the ability of citizens to engage in civic actions, and their involvement in anti-corruption monitoring and policymaking using remote approaches such as an extensive document review, two web surveys of sub-grantees and beneficiaries, and a series of remote FGDs and KIIs.

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International Data Collection Experts

Highlighted Projects

Bangladesh Apparel Industry Study

Supporting efforts to improve worker protections in the informal ready-made-garment sector

Client:

Global Fund to End Modern Slavery

Child Sex Exploitation in Kenya

Examining the prevalence of child sex exploitation and the effectiveness of programs to fight it.

Client:

Global Fund to End Modern Slavery

Communications, Evidence & Learning Project

Strengthening the evidence base for effective land and resource governance

Client:

U.S. Agency for International Development

Democracy, Human Rights & Governance: Learning, Evaluation & Research Activity

Generating and promoting the use of data, evidence, and learning to inform DRG programming worldwide

Client:

U.S. Agency for International Development

Evaluating USAID’s Counter-Trafficking Efforts in Cambodia

NORC assesses whether job programs can reduce labor trafficking

Client:

U.S. Agency for International Development

Evaluating USAID’s Work on Prolonged Pretrial Detention in Haiti

NORC finds that legal assistance reduced the length of incarceration before court action

Client:

U.S. Agency for International Development

Gender-Based Violence Impunity in Latin America & Caribbean

Elevating survivor perspectives to promote meaningful accountability for gender-based violence

Client:

U.S. Agency for International Development

Gender-Based Violence Portfolio Performance Evaluation

Making gender-based violence prevention, protection, and accountability programs more effective

Client:

U.S. Agency for International Development

Gender Violence Prevention in Democratic Republic of Congo

Assessing USAID-funded program for community-based trauma healing at the village level

Client:

U.S. Agency for International Development

International Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

A study identifies effective practices in 5 countries, seeking guidance to support U.S. health care

Client:

Commonwealth Fund

Labor Exploitation of Kenyans in Gulf Countries

Study finds East African workers commonly mistreated in Gulf Cooperation Council member nations

Client:

Global Fund to End Modern Slavery

LARA Performance and Impact Evaluation in Uganda

Evaluating an early-grade reading and violence reduction program on learning and retention

Client:

U.S. Agency for International Development

Latin America & Caribbean Learning and Rapid Response

Helping USAID respond quickly to democratic backsliding, citizen security, and governance challenges

Client:

U.S. Agency for International Development

Leveraging Labor Market Data in Guatemala, El Salvador & Honduras Evaluation

Assessing improvement in quality, use, and understanding of labor market data and its sustainability

Client:

Bureau of International Labor Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor

Philippines Human Trafficking Survey

Exploring public attitudes and documenting victim stories in the Philippines

Client:

U.S. Department of State

Qatar National Education Data System

Creating a system for measuring the impact of nationwide education reforms

Client:

Government of Qatar

Reading & Access Evaluations

Generating evidence to inform USAID’s early grade reading and access to education programs

Client:

U.S. Agency for International Development

Read Liberia Program Impact Evaluation

Impact evaluation finds high-quality materials are key to improving reading outcomes

Client:

U.S. Agency for International Development

Road to Tolerance Bangladesh Impact Evaluation

Assessing efforts to combat violent extremism among university students

Client:

U.S. Agency for International Development

Russian Public Opinion in Wartime

Survey of Russian adults reveals varied views on leadership and political reform

Client:

NORC at the University of Chicago

Tackling Exploitative Child Domestic Work in West Africa

A comprehensive assessment of child domestic work in Nigeria and Liberia to inform program design

Client:

U.S. Department of State

Tanzania Data for Development Activity

Improving education, health, poverty, governance, and economic development

Client:

U.S. Agency for International Development

Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence

A landscape analysis of technology-facilitated gender-based violence in the Asia-Pacific region

Client:

U.S. Agency for International Development

Toward Understanding Deradicalization in the U.S.

Evaluating and assessing Parents for Peace, a U.S.-based deradicalization program

Client:

National Institute of Justice

Tusome Early-Grade Reading Evaluation

Translating USAID-funded pilot programs into national-scale initiatives

Client:

U.S. Agency for International Development

Ukraine Civil Society Assessment

A post-Euromaidan examination of Ukraine’s civil sector

Client:

U.S. Agency for International Development

Ukraine Monitoring & Learning Support

Providing top quality performance monitoring, GIS services, media monitoring, and surveys

Client:

U.S. Agency for International Development

Ukrainians Are Confident in War Outcome and Their Nation’s Future

NORC conducted surveys in Ukraine between 2022 and 2023

Funder:

NORC

USAID PRO-IP Policy: Research Supporting Indigenous Peoples’ Rights

Assessing and measuring the involvement of Indigenous Peoples in USAID programming

Client:

U.S. Agency for International Development

US-Colombia Child Protection Compact Partnership Study

A comprehensive examination of four types of child trafficking

Client:

U.S. Department of State

Women’s Political Participation and Leadership

Enhancing USAID’s understanding of women’s political participation and leadership around the globe

Client:

U.S. Agency for International Development