College Park, MD–1/28/15—Public policy research is dependent on efficient data collection, which is often thwarted by non-respondents or a low response rate. The question then becomes about how to conduct a powerful analysis with too few data and produce meaningful, evidence-based results. Using two current Optimal Solutions Group (Optimal) projects from the U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that rely on data collection and analysis, one of Optimal’s statisticians, Shauna Sweet, will conduct a Brown Bag lunch presentation titled, “Power Analysis.”

Ms. Sweet holds a M.S. in survey methodology and is pursuing her doctorate in measurement, statistics, and evaluation from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her coursework includes structural equation modeling, factor analysis, diagnostic classification modeling, multivariate data analysis, applied multiple regression, and Bayesian Analysis. Ms. Sweet’s Brown Bag presentation will take place at Optimal’s headquarters in College Park, MD.

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Optimal Solutions Group, LLC

Founded in 2000, Optimal Solutions Group, LLC is a nonpartisan public policy research and technical assistance firm that stands out for its quantitative expertise and innovative approaches to provide rigorous, data-driven research and technical assistance to government agencies, corporations, nonprofit organizations, and philanthropic foundations. Located at the University of Maryland’s M Square Research Park in College Park, Optimal is a leader in driving real-time public policy research. Optimal has 60+ employees, including multidisciplinary researchers with backgrounds in business, communication, economics, education, health policy, psychology, public policy, sociology, statistics, and urban planning. Optimal has four research centers: Health, Education, Housing, and Workforce Development and Social Policy.