Headshot of HarmoniJoie Noel

HarmoniJoie Noel, PhD

Instructor, UXR Institute · Senior Survey Methodologist

Good survey data starts before the analysis ever happens, with a question that’s actually been tested on a real respondent before it goes anywhere near the field.

About

Harmoni has spent over fifteen years making sure survey data means what people think it means. She has directed end-to-end user research initiatives, designing and executing qualitative interviews, focus groups, and surveys, managing diverse data collection efforts, and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data to drive actionable insights. As a survey methodologist and sociologist, she led questionnaire development, cognitive testing, data collection, and analysis for some of the highest-stakes health surveys in the country: the congressionally mandated Qualified Health Plan survey that helped set public star ratings for ACA/Obamacare/Marketplace health plans, the country’s gold standard data on the health and nutrition of Americans (CDC’s NHANES), a CDC-funded survey to develop a new typology of intimate partner violence perpetrators, and a new health insurance literacy measure that is used world-wide.

She currently consults independently through Harmonious Research, LLC and teaches survey methods for UX researchers through the UXR Institute, after senior survey methodology roles at RTI International, Booz Allen Hamilton, and the American Institutes for Research, plus two years as a behavioral scientist at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. She holds a PhD in sociology and survey research methodology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Survey & Methodology Experience

  • Harmonious Research, LLC, Independent Consultant
    • Designed, fielded, and analyzed a market research survey for a new outdoor gear rental company
    • Conducted cognitive interviews for various government surveys
    • Reviewed and tested Qualtrics surveys
    • Conducted data analysis and reporting for military surveys
  • RTI International, Senior Research Survey Methodologist
    • Tested programming of ten phone-survey instruments for NHANES, the CDC’s gold standard survey of Americans’ health and nutrition
    • Built two new safety surveys for a U.S. Army study testing a device meant to help prevent brain injuries in soldiers
    • Developed a survey assessing older adults’ experiences with a benefits website
  • Booz Allen Hamilton, Senior Survey Methodologist
    • Led a cross-functional methodology and analysis team for a national CMS health survey on consumer experience, continuing the Qualified Health Plan survey program
  • American Institutes for Research, Senior Survey Methodologist
    • Managed data collection for CMS’s CAHPS Comprehensive Primary Care (CPC+) survey for 1M patients across 2.8K primary care practices
    • Directed questionnaire development, cognitive interviewing, and psychometrics across 3 languages and led 2 years of field testing with 80K+ respondents per year
    • Led survey development of new measure of IPV perpetration for CDC
    • Co-led development of 4 surveys for patients with rare and chronic conditions, researchers, and clinicians for PCORI
    • Conducted cognitive interviewing, cluster and factor analyses to establish a new Health Insurance Literacy Measure
    • Created new survey and led cognitive interviewing about electronic health record utilization and meaningful use at primary care doctor offices for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT
  • National Center for Health Statistics / CDC, Behavioral Scientist, Survey Methodologist
    • Headed cognitive interviewing and data quality analysis projects for CDC health surveys

How I think about survey road mapping

The step everyone wants to rush is survey road mapping: writing down, in plain language, exactly what business or policy decision a survey needs to inform and a top-down concept>domain>construct>question mapping before jumping to drafting questions. Skip it and you can end up with questions that are technically valid and still can’t answer the question leadership actually has. I’d rather spend an extra week getting the roadmap right than ship a survey that’s airtight methodologically and useless strategically.

Areas of expertise

Survey design & questionnaire development Cognitive interviewing & question pretesting Quantitative survey analysis & statistics CAHPS & patient experience surveys Mixed-mode survey data collection

Courses Harmoni teaches

Credentials & Education

  • PhD, Sociology / Survey Research and Methodology
    University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  • MA, Sociology
    University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  • BA, Sociology & Psychology
    Concordia College
    magna cum laude

Honors & training

  • 7 Rise Awards
    RTI International, for NHANES and the Warfighter Brain Health project (2023 to 2025)
  • 2 Spot Awards
    American Institutes for Research, for proposal work (2013) and the Community Forum project (2012)
  • Multiple graduate research awards
    University of Nebraska-Lincoln Sociology Department (2006 to 2010)

Body of work

Articles by HarmoniJoie Noel

New writing publishes here.
HarmoniJoie’s first articles are publishing soon: writing on survey methodology, construct definition, and cognitive interviewing.

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