Principals & key staff members

Dr. Kristen Purcell

Dr. Kristen Purcell is a Senior Project Director whose expertise includes media technology, women’s policy issues, and exercise and health behavior. Since joining PSRAI in 1998, she has implemented multi-year research projects for a wide range of clients, including the Pew Internet & American Life Project, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Center for the Advancement of Women. Purcell’s expertise includes telephone and internet survey design and analysis, media content analysis, and focus group research.

Purcell earned a Ph.D. in Sociology from Rutgers University, where she specialized in media technology and the measurement of American cultural trends. She has been on the faculty at Franklin & Marshall College, Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. She has taught courses in mass media and social interaction, cultural theory and trends, and the impact of sport on American society. Purcell’s work has been published in a variety of journals and edited volumes including Sociological Inquiry, Sociological Forum, and Risk in the Modern Age, and she has been an invited speaker at numerous regional and national conferences. In 2000, she was honored with a national research award from the American Sociological Association.