Mission Statement

The mission of UCSUR is to work collaboratively to conduct interdisciplinary research that improves communities and addresses social, economic, health, and policy issues most relevant to   society.  UCSUR carries out this mission by (1) providing research support infrastructure and training in the social and behavioral sciences to faculty throughout the University; (2) collecting and disseminating regional and national policy-relevant data to support faculty research and community development, and (3) conducting original research in a few focused areas, including urban impact analysis, survey methodology, and psychosocial aspects of aging.

About Us

UCSUR was established in 1972 to serve as a resource for researchers and educators interested in the basic and applied social and behavioral sciences. UCSUR promotes and coordinates interdisciplinary research focused on the social, economic, and health issues most relevant to our society.

Specific goals of UCSUR fall into four broad domains:

• Provide state-of-the-art research support services and infrastructure for investigators interested in interdisciplinary research in public policy and the social, behavioral, and health sciences. (Engage in research of impact; build foundational strength)
• Support the community service mission of the University by providing data and conducting policy analysis for the region. (Strengthen communities; engage in research of impact)
• Develop nationally recognized research programs within the center in a few selected areas—currently family caregiving, elder abuse, technology and aging. (Engage in research of impact)
• Support the teaching mission of the University by offering interdisciplinary training and mentoring diverse graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty members. (Advance educational excellence; embrace diversity and inclusion)

To achieve these strategic goals, UCSUR maintains a permanent research infrastructure available to both the University and the community with the capacity to:

• conduct all types of survey research and quantitative data analysis;
• acquire, manage, store, and analyze secondary and administrative data sets, including census data and data of unique local interest;
• obtain, format, and analyze spatial data;
• carry out regional econometric modeling;
• design and carry out descriptive, evaluation, and intervention studies; and
• conduct qualitative data collection and analysis.

Our research infrastructure is organized under three core programs and 1 major project:

1. the Urban and Regional Analysis Program (URA), which acquires, manages, and analyzes secondary and administrative data sets; does regional econometric modeling; and obtains, formats, and analyzes spatial data;
2. the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center (WPRDC), which provides a shared technological and legal infrastructure to support research, analysis, decision making, and community engagement.
3. the Survey Research Program (SRP), which is responsible for all aspects of survey research and quantitative data analysis;
4. the Qualitative Data Analysis Program (QDAP), which supports the collection and analysis of open-ended text data using rigorous computer-based methods.