The Kercher Center for Social Research in the Department of Sociology at Western Michigan University has completed more than $3.5 million in contract research. Research projects include:
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)