About Us
The UCF Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS) engages in community-centered research and program evaluations, specializing in research relevant to public health and policy issues across the state of Florida. To meet this end, ISBS employs various quantitative and qualitative methodologies, including, but not limited to, interviews, focus groups, secondary data analysis, statistical analysis, survey administration, content analysis, and GIS mapping. ISBS clientele are diverse and include local governments, not-for-profit agencies, and academics to answer critical research and evaluative questions on health, violence, crime, food insecurity, homelessness, and other social problems. In this way, we advance the science that guides improving the lives of individuals, the health of communities, and the well-being of the broader population.
ISBS works with community partners through a holistic approach. The core of this approach is a focus on mixed methodology. Moreover, adherence to stakeholder voices, from the stories of violence survivors residing in a shelter, to the experiences of those who navigate substance abuse issues, is a hallmark of our approach. In these ways, we are able to piece together an in-depth understanding of the issues addressed by our partners.
Contact Information
ISBS
UCF Department of Sociology
4297 Andromeda Loop N.
Howard Philips Hall, 114
Orlando, FL 32816-1360
Phone: 407.823.1357
Email: ISBS@ucf.edu
Current Projects
At any given time, ISBS has a variety of projects underway. Below you will find our recent and current projects!
Completed Projects
ISBS has a UCF STARS (Showcase of Text, Archives, Research & Scholarship) page that houses some of its previously completed projects.
Meet the Team
Amy Donley, Ph.D.
Director, ISBS
Professor
Department of Sociology, UCF
Dr. Amy Donley, Director, has been conducting community-based research across Florida for over fifteen years and has led over 70 unique studies to date. She is well-versed in all major social research methods and specializes in designing mixed- methodology research studies.
Jacquelyn Reiss, Ph.D.
Associate Director, ISBS
Lecturer
Department of Sociology, UCF
Dr. Jacquelyn Reiss is an applied sociologist with over five years of experience conducting mixed-methods social science research. She specializes in utilizing qualitative, quantitative, and geospatial mixed-methods research to design and conduct program evaluations and study social issues with a focus on social and structural determinants of health.
Emily Forsman, B.S.
Project Manager, ISBS
Graduate Research Assistant
Department of Sociology, UCF
Emily Forsman is a doctoral student who specializes in community-based program evaluation, data management, and statistical analysis. Her primary research interests include social inequalities that drive health disparities and contribute to food insecurity among underserved populations.
Affiliated Faculty
Amy Reckdenwald, Ph.D.
Professor | UCF Department of Sociology
Faculty Affiliate, UCF Violence Against Women Cluster
Dr. Amy Reckdenwald is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Central Florida and a member of the Violence Against Women Cluster. She is also a member of the Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention’s National Advisory Committee. Her research interests include violent victimization and offending, as it relates to domestic violence and intimate partner homicide.
Mari Mackiewicz, Ph.D., MSN, CSN, RN
Assistant Professor | UCF College of Nursing
Marissa “Mari” Mackiewicz is an assistant professor at UCF’s College of Nursing and a nurse scientist whose work focuses on ensuring all older adults have access to healthcare. Her research interests include substance use disorders and unmet oral health needs in older adult populations.
Affiliated External Scholars
Caroline Austin, M.A.
Adjunct Instructor
School of Arts and Sciences
Atlanta Metropolitan State College
Dr. Caroline Austin is a mixed-methods sociologist whose research examines labor markets, economic precarity, and social inequality, with applied work spanning community hea, food security, and workforce development. She brings expertise in survey research, qualitative interviewing, discourse analysis, and program evaluation across government and nonprofit contexts.
Julio Montanez, Ph.D.
Adjunct Instructor
Department of Social Sciences
Eastern Florida State College
Julio Montanez, PhD specializes in statistical analysis, social policy reviews, and content analysis. Julio’s primary areas of research are intimate partner violence and social policy.
Applied Sociology Experience (ASE)@ISBS
The Applied Sociology Experience (ASE)@ISBS is an opportunity for UCF undergraduate students to get hands-on experience conducting social research with community partners. Each semester up to 15 students enroll in 0-3 credits and work with ISBS leadership on available projects of their choosing. Students have the opportunity to conduct in-person surveys and interviews, code quantitative and qualitative data, prepare literature reviews, and assist in conducting analysis, among other activities.
Students enrolled in ASE@ISBS complete modules throughout the course of the semester designed for them to get the most out of their research experience. No prior research experience is necessary and students can be majoring in any discipline. Students must be a sophomore or junior at UCF and have a GPA of 3.4 or higher to apply.
Interested in learning more? Contact ISBS Director, Dr. Amy Donley at Amy.Donley@ucf.edu to schedule a time to meet.
Data Repository
Every piece of datum—whether qualitative or quantitative—is key in ISBS’s mission to engage in community-centered research and program evaluations. We at ISBS hold data near to our hearts and wish to share these critical pieces of information with the broader UCF community and beyond. To this end, we have developed a data storage and sharing apparatus—the ISBS Data Repository (nickname, “The Repository”).
To view available datasets, as well as details associated with obtaining and analyzing them, please check out the repository section below. Click on a dataset title to view it’s full contents. While the actual datasets are stored internally, you can check out a summary of each through the dropdown menu.
Community-Level Variables – Miami-Dade County
Year(s): 2021
Topic(s): Disability; Poverty
Description:
In 2022, ISBS partnered with the Miami-Dade Domestic Violence Oversight Board to conduct a year-long study on the anti-intimate partner violence system in Miami-Dade County. Part of the study included assessing data collection issues in extant data sources in Miami-Dade County.
The survey asked residents about issues related to substance use and misuse, knowledge and awareness of the county’s opioid overdose response, including Florida’s Good Samaritan law, mental and physical health, and demographics.
Use Stipulation(s):
For requesting access to these data, please contact: Amy Donley, Director, Institute for Social and Behavioral Science, Department of Sociology, University of Central Florida; amy.donley@ucf.edu. Note: Access to data may or will require proof and methods for ensuring ethical usage and distribution of produced materials resultant from data herein.
American Psychological Association Attribution, Referencing, and Citation:
Preferred reference list entry for dataset:
Montanez, A., & Donley, A. (Eds.). (2023). Community-level variables – Miami-Dade County [Dataset]. Institute for Social and Behavioral Science. https://xxxx
Preferred reference list entry for codebook:
Montanez, A., & Donley, A. (Eds.). (2023). Community-level variables – Miami-Dade County [Codebook]. Institute for Social and Behavioral Science. https://xxxx
Preferred reference list entry for codebook and dataset:
Montanez, A., & Donley, A. (Eds.). (2023). Community-level variables – Miami-Dade County [Dataset and codebook]. Institute for Social and Behavioral Science. https://xxxx
Preferred parenthetical citation:
(Montanez & Donley, 2023)
Preferred narrative citation:
Montanez and Donley (2023) …
American Sociological Association Attribution, Referencing, and Citation:
Preferred reference list entry for dataset:
Montanez, Julio and Amy Donley, eds. 2023. Community-level variables – Miami-Dade County [dataset]. Orlando, FL: Institute for Social and Behavioral Science. https://xxxx
Preferred reference list entry for codebook:
Montanez, Julio and Amy Donley, eds. 2023. Community-level variables – Miami-Dade County [codebook]. Orlando, FL: Institute for Social and Behavioral Science. https://xxxx
Preferred reference list entry for codebook and dataset:
Montanez, Julio and Amy Donley, eds. 2023. Community-level variables – Miami-Dade County [dataset and codebook]. Orlando, FL: Institute for Social and Behavioral Science. https://xxxx
Preferred parenthetical citation:
(Montanez and Donley 2023)
Preferred narrative citation:
Montanez and Donley (2023) …
First Responders-Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act Grants Survey Data
Year(s): 2020
Topic(s): Substance use, Public Opinion
Description:
In 2020, ISBS partnered with the Orange County Drug Free Office to conduct a survey with residents in Orange County, Florida (n=820) as part of their First Responders-Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act grant. The survey data was collected by Qualtrics. They partner with several panel survey companies to recruit participants. The final sample matched the Orange County demographic profile on race, ethnicity, and gender. The age of respondents was restricted to 18-40.
The survey asked residents about issues related to substance use and misuse, knowledge and awareness of the county’s opioid overdose response, including Florida’s Good Samaritan law, mental and physical health, and demographics.
Use Stipulation(s):
For requesting access to these data, please contact: Amy Donley, Director, Institute for Social and Behavioral Science, Department of Sociology, University of Central Florida; amy.donley@ucf.edu. Note: Access to data may or will require proof and methods for ensuring ethical usage and distribution of produced materials resultant from data herein.
American Psychological Association Attribution, Referencing, and Citation:
Preferred reference list entry for dataset:
Donley, A. (Ed.). (2020). First responders-Comprehensive addiction and recovery act grants survey data [Dataset]. Orlando, FL: Institute for Social and Behavioral Science. https://xxxx
Preferred reference list entry for codebook:
Donley, A. (Ed.). (2020). First responders-Comprehensive addiction and recovery act grants survey data [Dataset]. Orlando, FL: Institute for Social and Behavioral Science. https://xxxx
Preferred reference list entry for codebook and dataset:
Donley, A. (Ed.). (2020). First responders-Comprehensive addiction and recovery act grants survey data [Dataset and codebook]. Orlando, FL: Institute for Social and Behavioral Science. https://xxxx
Preferred parenthetical citation:
(Donley, 2020)
Preferred narrative citation:
Donley (2020) …
American Sociological Association Attribution, Referencing, and Citation:
Preferred reference list entry for dataset:
Donley, Amy, ed. 2020. First responders-Comprehensive addiction and recovery act grants survey data [dataset]. Orlando, FL:Institute for Social and Behavioral Science. https://xxxx
Preferred reference list entry for codebook:
Donley, Amy, ed. 2020. First responders-Comprehensive addiction and recovery act grants survey data [dataset]. Orlando, FL: Institute for Social and Behavioral Science. https://xxxx
Preferred reference list entry for codebook and dataset:
Donley, Amy, ed. 2020. First responders-Comprehensive addiction and recovery act grants survey data [dataset and codebook]. Orlando, FL: Institute for Social and Behavioral Science. https://xxxx
Preferred parenthetical citation:
(Donley 2020)
Preferred narrative citation:
Donley (2020) …
Links to products using these data:
Legislative Codes across the 50 United States: A Compendium
Year(s): 2024
Topic(s): Law; policy; statutes; legislation
Description:
In response to the many studies that use state-by-state policies in their research, the University of Central Florida’s (UCF) Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS) has developed a compendium (see Table 1) of names and links of legislative codes across the 50 United States. ISBS hopes that this resource can streamline legal data collection.
Link to Resource: Please click this link to access the resource.
Use Stipulation(s):
This is an open-access resource. Please cite appropriately.
American Psychological Association Attribution, Referencing, and Citation:
Preferred reference list entry for dataset:
Montanez, A., & Donley, A. (Eds.). (2023). Legislative codes across the 50 United States: A compendium [Dataset]. Institute for Social and Behavioral Science.
Preferred parenthetical citation:
(Montanez & Donley, 2023)
Preferred narrative citation:
Montanez and Donley (2023) …
American Sociological Association Attribution, Referencing, and Citation:
Preferred reference list entry for dataset:
Montanez, Julio and Amy Donley, eds. 2023. Legislative Codes across the 50 United States: A Compendium [dataset]. Orlando, FL: Institute for Social and Behavioral Science.
Preferred parenthetical citation:
(Montanez and Donley 2023)
Preferred narrative citation:
Montanez and Donley (2023) …
Orange County, FL Accidental Overdose Medical Examiner Data
Year(s): 2018 – 2022
Topic: Substance use; Overdose
Description:
ISBS received 5 years of accidental overdose data from the Orange County, FL Medical Examiner’s Office. Information in this data set includes: race, gender, birthdate, address, date of death, location of death, and the toxicology report. The toxicology information, which is textual data, was coded into a 6 category quantitative variable. Information provided by the Orange County jail was also incorporated to allow for analysis on incarceration history.
Use Stipulation(s):
For requesting access to these data, please contact: Amy Donley, Director, Institute for Social and Behavioral Science, Department of Sociology, University of Central Florida; amy.donley@ucf.edu. Note: Access to data will require proof of methods for ensuring ethical usage and distribution of produced materials resultant from data herein.
American Psychological Association Attribution, Referencing, and Citation:
Preferred reference list entry for dataset:
McClarty A., & Donley, A. (Eds.). (2040). Orange County, FL accidental overdose medical examiner data [Dataset]. Orlando, FL: Institute for Social and Behavioral Science. https://sciences.ucf.edu/sociology/isbs/
Preferred reference list entry for codebook:
McClarty A., & Donley, A. (Eds.). (2024). Orange County, FL accidental overdose medical examiner data [Dataset]. Orlando, FL: Institute for Social and Behavioral Science. https://sciences.ucf.edu/sociology/isbs/ https://xxxx
Preferred reference list entry for codebook and dataset:
McClarty, A., & Donley, A. (Eds.). (2024). Orange County, FL accidental overdose medical examiner data[Dataset and codebook]. Orlando, FL: Institute for Social and Behavioral Science. https://sciences.ucf.edu/sociology/isbs/
Preferred parenthetical citation:
(McClarty & Donley, 2024)
Preferred narrative citation:
McClarty and Donley (2024) …
American Sociological Association Attribution, Referencing, and Citation:
Preferred reference list entry for dataset:
McClarty, Alexandria and Amy Donley, eds. 2024. First responders-Comprehensive addiction and recovery act grants survey data [dataset]. Orlando, FL:Institute for Social and Behavioral Science. (https://sciences.ucf.edu/sociology/isbs/).
Preferred reference list entry for codebook:
McClarty, Alexandria and Amy Donley, eds. 2024. First responders-Comprehensive addiction and recovery act grants survey data [dataset]. Orlando, FL: Institute for Social and Behavioral Science. (https://sciences.ucf.edu/sociology/isbs/).
Preferred reference list entry for codebook and dataset:
McClarty, Alexandria and Amy Donley, eds. 2024. First responders-Comprehensive addiction and recovery act grants survey data [dataset and codebook]. Orlando, FL: Institute for Social and Behavioral Science. (https://sciences.ucf.edu/sociology/isbs/).
Preferred parenthetical citation:
(McClarty and Donley 2024)
Preferred narrative citation:
McClarty and Donley (2024) …
Links to products using these data:
Reach Out to Us!
Applying for a grant?
ISBS can work with you to develop a data collection strategy or an evaluation plan.
Need an evaluation conducted to measure the impact of your work?
ISBS can design and execute an evaluation that measures the impact of your work, within your budget.
Contact ISBS at isbs@ucf.edu to schedule a meeting to talk about your research needs.