Department of Sociology

Carrie E. Spearin received a masters degree in applied sociology from the University of Massachusetts in 2000 and her Ph.D. in sociology with a specialization in demography from Brown University in 2007.

Dr. Spearin is an experienced program evaluator known for using mixed-method research design approaches and has substantial knowledge about educational and mentoring programs aimed to increase the number of underrepresented individuals engaged in research and academia. Drawing from a social justice perspective, the research projects she undertakes contribute to this ever-growing knowledge base and provide rationale for programmatic decision making. As the Leadership Alliance’s primary program evaluator, Dr. Spearin works closely with the Program Director, program staff, and other stakeholders to frame evaluation questions, design, and implement the evaluation plans, and provide data-driven program recommendations.  Within this same topic, Dr. Spearin served as the internal evaluator of the NSF funded ADVANCE at Brown program, primarily aimed to increase the retention and advancement of women faculty in science and engineering at Brown University.  In this capacity, she worked closely with PI’s and staff to evaluate all aspects of the ADVANCE at Brown program including developing survey questionnaires, analyzing survey, university, and COACHE data, conducting focus groups, producing reports of results, and advising staff on yearly NSF update reports.

In addition to her varied evaluation research experiences, Dr. Spearin uses her applied research approach in the classroom – primarily instructing courses on basic and advanced research methods and statistics (i.e. survey research), as well as substantive courses on the family and gender.

Currently, Dr. Spearin serves as the Associate Director of the masters program in Social Data Analytics and the Co-Director of Undergraduate Studies in Sociology and Social Analysis & Research (SAR).