Research Services FAQs

Can you help us with a grant proposal?

Yes, we can help you develop a proposal. We most often assist with or write the evaluation section.

How much do your services cost?

We offer a menu of service options tailored to your research needs and budget. Project costs vary depending upon the complexity of the project.

What if I want to do a research study but I don’t have funding (yet)?

We can work with you to determine the scope and potential cost of your project, and suggest possible funding sources. Wilder Research and the Wilder Foundation typically do not fund research projects.

Do you work on small/really large projects?

We work on all sizes of projects, from providing a few hours of consultation to multi-year, multi-component research projects. Get an idea of the range of our projects by looking at our Research Library or some of our featured projects.

Have you ever completed a project on ______ topic?

We work on many different topics. You can search our Research Library for the topic you are interested in or contact us to learn more.

Do you work with organizations outside of Saint Paul?

Yes, we work with clients across Minnesota, the United States, and other countries.

Can I hire you to do just one component of a research project?

Yes. Our staff includes experts in research design, data collection (surveys, focus groups, and interviews), data entry, data analysis, literature searches and reviews, and summarizing and presenting results. We also offer coaching and training on how to use existing data to make better decisions.

What types of data collection services do you offer?

We can help collect data for a community needs assessment, conduct a client satisfaction survey, measure program outcomes, or use a mixed-method approach for a complex study. Our professionally trained, multilingual social science research interviewers have rich backgrounds in a variety of fields including education, health care, and human services. We can do web, paper/mailed, and telephone surveys; focus groups and other discussion or talking circles; and facilitated activities to gather data.

What topic areas do you work in?

Our projects cover a wide variety of topics. To learn more, check out our research topics and search our Research Library.

I need help with a project immediately. Is that possible?​

We try to accommodate project needs as we are able. Let us know your timeline and we can see if we have available staff.

Instead of conducting an evaluation, can you teach our organization how to do it ourselves?

Yes, we can work with you to develop your internal capacity so that you can design and carry out your own evaluation. We offer evaluation trainings and technical assistance customized to meet your organization’s needs. You might also find our tip sheets helpful.

Can you help us with strategic planning?

We are experts at helping programs create logic models, and identify goals and outcomes, which can be an important part of strategic planning. We also offer limited strategic planning services for projects of certain types, especially if using data to inform decisions. Contact us to learn how we can meet your needs.

My organization just needs a database or help making sense of an existing database – can you help?

Yes. We have helped hundreds of organizations with their data management needs, including developing databases as part of an evaluation project and serving as developer and administrator for large, internet-based databases for organizations and collaboratives.

We can help make sense out of your data, whether you collect it in your own database or through one of ours, including developing “dashboard” reports or using the data for in-depth outcome or return-on-investment analysis.