Northern Illinois University
Division of Research and Innovation Partnerships

Research Methodology Services

The Research Methodology Services (RMS) unit is available to assist Principal Investigators with several tasks related to research design, measurement, data management, analysis, and communication of results.

RMS services include attending meetings to discuss the project, its design and its analysis needs; consultation on the qualitative or quantitative analysis requirements for the project; and writing analysis sections of the grant proposal. The RMS can contribute to plans for study design, sample size estimation, data management, data analysis and other methodological tasks. Also, the RMS can provide reference materials and other resources to support the use of methods and analyses involved in the project.

The RMS provides both quantitative and qualitative expertise.

Cost

All assistance for proposal development are free of charge. However, a PI who uses these services is expected to use the RMS during the project and include the cost for these services in the proposal budget.

Estimated Minimum Hours for Common Requests
Service	Estimated Hours (per project year)
Program Evaluation (single event or course)	15-20
Program Evaluation (multiple events/courses)	30-35
Data diagnostics and missing data analysis	5-15
Analysis of basic pre/post intervention study	10-15
Analysis of multilevel data (clustered or longitudinal)	20-30
Survey development	15-20
Summary report of results	10-20

The average hourly consulting rate is $82.50/hour. Contact the RMS director to discuss your project’s needs and to confirm the consulting rate. To maximize assistance, please contact the RMS as early as possible when developing your proposal. Requests made within two weeks of a submission deadline are subject to consultant availability.