Robert Agans, Ph.D.

Robert Agans, Ph.D. serves as Co-Director of the Carolina Survey Research Laboratory at UNC-CH. In this role, he directs and orchestrates complex survey research operations, including development of sample designs, questionnaire review and psychometric analysis, as well as expertise in both quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Operations at the CSRL include, but are not limited to focus groups, cognitive interviews, web survey, mail surveys and computer-assisted telephone interviews. He has expertise in questionnaire design and development and has published work on translating survey instruments into foreign languages as well research on survey non-response and telephone sampling methods.

Dr. Agans has directed dozens of survey projects over the past ten years, including telephone surveys which screen for rare attributes; mail surveys like the one examining the role of pediatric dentists in addressing childhood obesity; and web surveys like the national survey of geneticists and genetic counselors about their attitudes toward pharmacogenetic testing. His work at the CSRL also includes data analysis using SUDAAN for complex survey designs and NVivo for qualitative data analysis.

Dr. Agans’s research interests include questionnaire design, cognitive interviewing, and the psychological aspects of message processing. His latest research interest focuses on cross-cultural issues in questionnaire design and nonresponse measurement issues. Dr. Agans also has extensive teaching experience in survey research methods, psychology, communication, and statistical analysis.