Kenneth Coleman
Board Member, Detroit RiverFront Conservancy
President
Kenneth M. Coleman Qualitative Research
Kenneth M. Coleman has ten years of experience in market and customer satisfaction research, after an earlier career in academia as a specialist on Latin America. His private sector research experience has been heavily qualitative in nature, although he is well-trained and experienced in quantitative survey methods. Coleman works primarily in two industries: medical/pharmaceutical and well energy/utilities, but has also worked on multiple studies in the financial services and insurance industries. Ken also does in-depth interviews as a volunteer for non-profit organizations.
Coleman holds a B.A. degree from Grinnell College, and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has served on the faculties of Texas State University, the University of Kentucky, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of New Mexico, as well as holding Fulbright Lectureships in Mexico, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Ken also participates in training missions offered by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan at Qatar University on research design and basic social statistics (2010, 2011, 2013).
Illustrative of his work in the healthcare arena, Ken has done in-depth interviews with experts on the post-Affordable Care Act environment; with c-suite executives in a national hospital membership/group purchasing organization on the quality of services rendered by the organization; with pharmacists on the patient assistance program of a major pharmaceutical house; and with executives of start-up companies looking to partner with Big Pharma firms on the nature of the production and distribution relationships sought. In early 2013 Ken interviewed insurance plan sponsors [employers], insurance brokers and insurance agents on uncertainties pertaining to implementation of the ACA and insurance exchanges.
In the energy industry, Coleman has done in-depth interviews with both residential and business customers, as well as interviews with community leaders and stake-holders (such as Chamber of Commerce executives) about the “community presence” of utility companies across the United States. This work has included Spanish language focus groups.
In financial services, Ken has done interviews with bankers on behalf of the Federal Reserve System, as well as with many small business owners on behalf of major financial institutions, including leading credit card companies. He has also done interviews and focus groups for community credit unions, as well as focus groups on behalf of a payment processing firm about a new product line.
Ken joined the Board of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy in late 2011, where he serves on the Annual Fund Committee. Previously, he has served on the Board of the Shelter Association of Washtenaw County, the homeless shelter for single adults in Ann Arbor. Ken also designs and executive surveys for International Samaritan, a Catholic agency in Ann Arbor that works on behalf of garbage dump dwellers in developing countries.
