News
Sando and Associates is one of approximately 20 companies which have formed The Global Development Small Business Consortium. The consortium will enable members to work jointly on large projects that need the variety of skills and expertise usually found in large firms. The expanded capacity will allow us all to better serve our clients. See a description of the consortium at http://thegdsbc.com.
In October 2012, Ruth Sando will be presenting at the American Statistical Association's upcoming "International Conference on Methods for Surveying and Enumerating Hard-to-Reach Populations" to be held in New Orleans, LA. Her topic will be "Exploring the Effects of Respondent Behavior on the Interview Process and Data Quality in a 2010 Census Case Study Evaluation." This will be based on research conducted for the US Census Bureau.
In November 2011, Ruth Sando spoke at a meeting of the Washington Association of Professional Anthropologists, together with Lucy Laufe, Ph.D. of Montgomery College. They discussed techniques to increase success in applying for scholarships and jobs, addressing some of the difficulties faced by social scientists in particular. They will be leading a round table discussion at the March 2012 annual meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology on the same subject.
Ruth Sando spoke at the most recent annual meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology, in Seattle in March 2011. She organized a panel to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the "Praxis Award" which recognizes ground-breaking work done by anthropologists outside of academia.
In February 2011, Sando and Associates received certification as a woman-owned business from WBENC (Women's Business Enterprise National Council). The firm has been certified as a small woman-owned business in the federal government's Central Contractor Registry for over five years.
Sando and Associates was selected in early 2010 to provide ethnographic research services to the U.S. Census Bureau through 2011.
Ruth Sando recently stepped down as president of the Washington Association of Professional Anthropologists, having served during the 2010-2011 program year. She continues to work with the organization as a member of the board. WAPA has been focused on the needs of anthropologists who work outside of academia for over 30 years through a combination of topical meetings, a job bank, networking opportunities and information sharing. WAPA's website is http://wapadc.org.
Sando and Associates recently was part of a winning proposal by Eastern Research Group of Lexington, Massachusetts for a five-year contract with NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). We will be working on projects for their Coastal Services Center.
Ruth Sando interviewed applied anthropologists about their training and careers for the American Anthropological Association. The interviews are available as podcasts on the AAA website:
http://www.aaanet.org/cmtes/copapia/Profiles-In-Practice-Podcast-Series.cfm
In April 2009 Ruth Sando was invited to speak to Case Western Reserve's Anthropology Department. Her presentation to the students and faculty, entitled "Applications of Anthropology in Business: Thinking and Working Outside the Box (Notes From a Cubicle)" generated a good discussion of applied anthropology. The department was very hospitable, and it was an opportunity to meet many impressive future anthropologists.
In 2008 Ruth Sando was a featured speaker at several national conferences. In March, she spoke at the annual meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology, where she co-presented with Melinda Chow of radio station KUT, an NPR member station in Austin, Texas. Their presentation was entitled “Teamwork in Ethnographic Fieldwork.” Click on the link to find a podcast of her talk. practitioners-rise-to-the-challenge-a-discussion-of-methods-in-business-ethnography
Publications
The AARP sponsored a project in 2006 on retirement savings attitudes and behavior among lower income women. Sando and Associates conducted focus groups in Houston and Baltimore and which revealed many of the women's challenges. Read the report on AARP's website, or click here: women_saving_2006
Research conducted by Sando and Associates was discussed by Jared Bernstein in his book, "All Together Now: Common Sense for a Fair Economy." Our qualitative research preceded a large quantitative project on economic pressures faced by middle-class Americans. The project was sponsored by The Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.
A large and creative ethnography project is described in “Shedding a New Light On An Old Flame.” Published in Quirk’s Marketing Research Review, Vol. XIX (5) 30-35, May 2005. Co-authored with Donna Sweeney, Associate Research Manager, SC Johnson.
There are many articles on the use of ethnography in marketing. Publications such as BusinessWeek, Fortune, The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have highlighted specific projects in a variety of industries. Here are two examples.