Sociology

Department of Sociology
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5257 USA
(269) 387-5270

Kercher Center Clients and Projects

Kercher Center Clients and Projects

The Kercher Center for Social Research in the Department of Sociology at Western Michigan University has completed more than $4 million in contract/grant research. Research projects include:

South Haven Safety Survey

Community Utilization of Evidence-based Program Registers in Behavioral Health

  • 2017-20, National Institutes of Health – National Institute on Drug Abuse
  • Collaboration with the Evaluation Center

Development and Validation of Observational and Self-Report Instruments to Describe Teaching Practices in Online Undergraduate STEM Courses

  • 2017-22, National Science Foundation
  • Collaboration with the Center for Research on Instructional Change in Postsecondary Education

Kalamazoo Community Foundation Community Survey

  • 2017-18, Kalamazoo Community Foundation

The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Community Survey

  • 2017-18, Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety

The Public Safety WMU Student Survey

  • 2017-18, Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety

Drinking Water Protection Survey of Kalamazoo County

  • 2017, City of Kalamazoo

Kalamazoo Public Library Website and Catalog User Experience Study

  • 2015-16, Kalamazoo Public Library

South Haven Community Survey

  • 2014-15, City of South Haven

Problem or Probable Pathological Gamblers

  • 2013-2014, Michigan Department of Community Health

Gambling Behaviors in Michigan 2013

  • 2013-14, Gambling Behaviors in Michigan 2013
  • Michigan Department of Community Health ($128,000)

Five-Year Recidivism in Juvenile Drug Court 

  • 2013-14, with Kristin DeVall, 9th Judicial Circuit Court of Michigan

Kalamazoo Public Library Community Survey

  • 2012-13, Kalamazoo Public Library

Drinking Water Protection Survey of Kalamazoo County

  • 2012, City of Kalamazoo Wellhead Protection Committee

Student Financial Needs Survey

  • 2012, Western Michigan University

Juvenile Drug Treatment Court of Kalamazoo Evaluation

  • 2008-14, Kalamazoo County, Mich.

Women's Drug Treatment Court of Kalamazoo Evaluation

  • 2008-14, Kalamazoo County, Mich.

Men's Drug Treatment Court of Kalamazoo Evaluation

  • 2008-14, Kalamazoo County, Mich.

Evaluation of Women’s, Men’s and Juvenile Drug Courts

  • 2008-14, with Kristin DeVall, 9th Judicial Circuit Court of Michigan ($140,056)

Family Dependency Court of Kalamazoo Evaluation

  • 2013, Kalamazoo County, Mich.

Testing Holistic Family Approaches to Treatment in the Mental Health System

  • 2005-11, with Rachel Whaley (2005-06), SAMHSA ($960,000)

Livingston County Adult Drug Treatment Court Program Evaluation

  • 2011, Livingston County Circuit Court

Community survey of Portage city residents to obtain their viewpoints on city services and other issues

  • 2011-12, city of Portage, Mich.

Kalamazoo Wraps Project Evaluation

  • 2008-12, Michigan Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration

Assessing the Potential of Social Impact Bonds as a Funding Model for Drug Courts

  • 2012, with William Schma, Jeffrey Liebman and others; Kresge Foundation ($75,000)

The Nature of Ethical Decision-Making in Research

  • 2010-12, with Wayne Fuqua and Thomas Van Valey, National Science Foundation ($357,000)

Proposal to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation from the 9th Circuit Court of Michigan

  • 2005-10, W.K. Kellogg Foundation ($272,575; $1,830,569 with match)

Therapeutic Jurisprudence Project

  • 2008-09, Kellogg Foundation

Portage Community Survey

  • 2008-09, City of Portage, Mich.

Portage District Library Survey

  • 2008-09, Portage, Mich.

Pentwater Community Survey

  • 2008, City of Pentwater, Mich.

Evaluation of Co-Occurring Disorders Services

  • 2007-08, State of Michigan, Family Independence Agency ($10,000)

Women's Drug Court - Year 1 Evaluation

  • 2006-08, Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Michigan ($22,759)

Evaluation of Men's and Juvenile Drug Courts

  • 2006-07, Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Michigan ($23,636)

Gambling Behaviors in Michigan 2005

  • 2005-06, Michigan Department of Community Health ($109,604)

Evaluation of Men's Drug Treatment Court

  • 2005, Ninth Circuit Court of Michigan ($11,378)

Evaluation of Co-Occurring Disorders Services

  • 2004-05, State of Michigan, Family Independence Agency ($28,512)

Juvenile Drug Court Evaluation

  • 2000-05, Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Michigan ($75,800)

Saugatuck Community Survey

  • 2004, City of Saugatuck ($15,014)

Building Restorative Communities Planning Project

  • 2003-04, Kalamazoo County ($13,951)

Evaluation of Kalamazoo's Community Health Access Collaborative

  • 2002-03, with Victoria Ross, Kalamazoo County, for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ($40,000, $900,000)

Lead Evaluator on  A Virtual Age (PI: Donna Weinreich) 

  • 2001-04, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ($20,000)

Continued Monitoring for the Southwest Michigan Health Partners Education Initiative

  • 2001-04, Michigan Department of Community Health ($15,000)

An Institutional Change Model for Teaching Research Ethics 

  • 2001-03, with Michael Pritchard, Thomas Van Valey, Sylvia Culp and Wayne Fuqua; NSF ($232,459)

Evaluation on, An Innovative Project for People with Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias And for Aging Adults with Life Long Disabilities.  (PI: Carol Sundburg)

  • 2001-03, Michigan Department of Community Health ($12,000, $100,000).

Lead evaluator on Building Capacity for a National Community College Collaborative IT E-Learning Support Network for People with Disabilities.  (PI: Robert Leneway)

  • 2001-04, National Science Foundation ($15,000, $448,853)

Evaluation of Kalamazoo's Community Health Access Collaborative

  • 2001-02, with Victoria Ross, Kalamazoo County for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ($45,000, $997,670)

Evaluation of the Michigan Drug Court Grant Program 

  • 2001-02, with Ron Kramer, Barry Goetz and Subhash Sonnad; Michigan Supreme Court, State Court Administrative Office. $100,606

Collaborative Learning and Teaching Through Technology

  • 2000-03, Evaluation director, Robert Leneway, project director, U.S. Department of Education (Evaluation budget; $78,000, $1,190,048)

Evaluation of the Collaborative Learning and Teaching Through Technology Program in the WMU College of Education

  • 2000-03, U.S. Department of Education

Prevalence and Dimensions of Problem Gambling in Michigan

  • 2001, with Arlen Gullickson,Michigan Department of Community Health ($50,000)

Student Spending Patterns 

  • 2000, Downtown Kalamazoo, Inc. and the Western Michigan University Office of Community Outreach ($10,000)

Juvenile Drug Court Evaluation

  • 1998-2001, Office of Drug Control Policy, State of Michigan

Evaluation of the Southwest Michigan Health Professions Initiative

  • 1997-2001, Michigan Department of Community Health

Assessing Citizen Preferences on Land Use Planning

  • 1999, Convening the Community of Kalamazoo County

Studies of Compulsive Gambling in Michigan

  • 1997 and 1999, Michigan Bureau of State Lottery, Michigan Department of Community Health

Alzheimer's Study

  • 1996-97, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Michigan Alcohol and Other Drug Studies

  • 1992-97, Michigan School Districts

Kalamazoo Community Partnership

  • 1991-97, County of Kalamazoo

Adults' and Seniors' Surveys

  • 1993-94, Michigan Higher Education Institute

Cancer Screening

  • 1992-93, Michigan Department of Public Health

Behavioral Risk Factors

  • 1988-91, Michigan Department of Public Health

Assessing Citizen Preferences on Land Use Planning

  • 1999, The Convening the Community Project of Kalamazoo County ($29,272)

Follow-Up Study of Compulsive Gambling in Michigan

  • 1999, with Arlen Gullickson, Michigan Department of Community Health ($39,988)

Evaluation of School-Based Violence Interventions in Battle Creek

  • 1999, Battle Creek COPS Program, U.S. Department of Justice ($12,487)

Kalamazoo County Road Commission Survey

  • 1999, Kalamazoo County Road Commission ($12,858)

Evaluation of Project MTS: Enhancing Evaluation Capacity in Science Education Through Metaevaluation, Training and Support Services

  • 1998-2000, National Science Foundation grant to the Western Michigan University Evaluation Center ($28,000)

Analysis of Cognitively Intact Older Adults and Their Caregivers

  • 1998, University of Arkansas Medical Center ($14,913)