Graduate Business Center

CSER

Center for Social and Economic Research At West Chester University of PA

The Center for Social and Economic Research was founded in 1998 and is housed in the Department of Political Science, College of Business and Public Affairs, at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Our faculty research associates include methodologists, geographers, communication studies expert and economists. We also employ students to work directly with our faculty on our research projects, providing an invaluable opportunity for students to develop professional skills. The breadth of expertise of our faculty and our collaboration with students allows us to provide affordable research services to meet a wide range of research needs.

The CSER emphasizes multi-disciplinary collaboration and consultation and is committed to providing quality research services in combination with effective student training. The miss ion of the CSER is: To provide up-to-date quantitative and qualitative research, combining superior service with academic expertise.

To train undergraduate students to become the next generation of social researchers.
To serve the research needs of Chester County and its surrounding communities.

The specific objectives that follow from our mission are:

To increase the accessibility of faculty resources to the West Chester community.
To provide opportunities for students and faculty to apply research skills by working with community while expanding their expertise.
To assist local social and economic planning efforts by providing expertise and support for conducting public opinion surveys, evaluation studies, and other types of attitudinal research.
To provide a cost-effective source of research services for West Chester community.

Our clients include media organization, private businesses, townships, and public/non-profit agencies. Among the services we provide are:

Community needs assessments
Economic impact studies
Public opinion surveys
Political polls
Benchmark polls, tracking polls and panel studies
Focus groups
Policy evaluations
GIS, mapping and analysis of data

Expanded service through partnerships includes:

Web-based survey research
Video and audio analysis

For more information, please feel free to contact Dr. Lorraine Bernotsky or Lauren Kochanski at the Research Center at 610-436-2286 or e-mail: cser@wcupa.edu

1160 McDermott Drive, West Chester University, West Chester, PA 19383 or e-mail: RBernotsky@wcupa.edu