Community Research Center

UIndy's Community Research Center (CRC), located within the Department of Sociology offers students a place to hone their research skills while also supporting the needs of the community.

Through the CRC, sociology undergraduates, 4+1 students in Applied Sociology, and graduate students in the Applied Sociology program and undergraduates majoring or minoring in  sociology have a facility to conduct research and evaluation design, which are critical skills in these fields. Students work under the careful guidance of faculty, who have expertise and community contacts in a variety of fields.

The CRC also benefits the larger community, as much of the research is centered on program analysis and assessment for community-based programs.

Research Opportunities

The Community Research Center offers sociology and applied sociology  students a wealth of research opportunities. Over the past five years, more than a dozen graduate and undergraduate students have worked on applied research projects, co-authored research reports with faculty, and presented at national conferences.

Research Projects

Through the Community Research Center, faculty and students work on a variety of research projects involving both on-and-off campus partners. Some of our recent projects include:

• Analysis of Shelby Street properties in partnership with South Indianapolis Quality of Life Plan (SoIndy) 
• Neighborhood perceptions and satisfaction in partnership with University Heights neighborhood
• Survey of sociology majors and alumni
• Survey of Multiplying Good award recipients job satisfaction 
• University of Indianapolis alumni survey
• Collecting oral histories from staff and female inmates in Belize Central Prison
• Examining social class differences in cohabitation