About Nancy

What she's done

Nancy's career in market research began in 1994, when, as part of a class at the Yale School of Management, she conducted her first focus group. Her professor, recognizing her talent, immediately invited her to come work at his start-up company, Applied Research and Consulting (ARC), in New York.

As a research director at ARC, Nancy was responsible for helping companies make crucial strategic decisions involving communications and branding. She managed large qualitative and quantitative projects for the firm's diverse clientele, including Starbucks, American Airlines, Ameritech, Liz Claiborne, Conrail, Calvert, WNYC public radio, and Fannie Mae.

In 1998, Nancy founded Nancy Dodd Research. Under her stewardship, NDR's clientele has grown to include Fortune 500 companies, major public-sector entities and not-for-profit corporations.

Before entering the world of market research, Nancy spent five years counseling pregnant and parenting teens, as well as running programs, at a social services agency in Boston.

Why research?

Nancy thrives on and is particularly talented at drawing out people's emotional response to intense topics: health, relationships, family, money. Her strong sense of empathy, along with her contagious enthusiasm and sense of humor, quickly make respondents feel comfortable opening up and revealing what is truly important to them.

Clients appreciate Nancy's intense engagement with their projects, as well as her dynamism and sense of humor, fun, and spunk—both in front of the mirror and behind it. She pours herself into every project, making each client a top priority.

Most memorable projects (in her own words):

Women and body image: As part of the New York City Department of Health's initiative to develop programs to promote healthy living and prevent obesity, I talked with young African-American women in Harlem about how they felt about their bodies, about eating, about taking care of themselves. I love exploring people's hidden emotional lives. It was exciting watching the women in these groups bond together as they shared common experiences and feelings.

Confronting death: For another study, I talked with family caregivers, doctors, and nurses about their experiences helping a family member or patient decide whether to enter hospice care. It was amazing to hear people open up about the feelings they had when confronting the death of a loved one. Hearing physicians speak about their feelings of inadequacy and fear of failure with regard to their patients' illnesses was very moving.

Education

M.B.A., Yale School of Management
B.A., Wesleyan University

About NDR

Nancy Dodd Research (NDR) was founded in 1998. Our objective: to do great research in the setting of a small firm. So we brought together the best moderators, analysts, and statisticians we could find, and turned them loose on our clients.

To date, we have enjoyed working with top companies like UnitedHealthcare, L’Oréal, Sallie Mae, Citi Cards, Reuters, Chubb Insurance, Condé Nast Publications, LexisNexis, Polo Ralph Lauren, Sanofi-Aventis, Pfizer, Time Warner Cable, and many others (see our clients section for a list).

We have a proven record of solving our clients' research questions. A boutique firm with years of experience conducting market studies, we provide personal service and make every study a priority. We will create a customized research design for you, drawing from our broad repertoire of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. These include:

Focus groups
Ethnographies
Individual depth interviews (IDIs)
Dyads, triads, and friendship pairs
Online bulletin boards
Surveys (telephone and online)