Mary Talbot
About
Mary (“MaryBeth”) Talbot has extensive experience designing and managing applied research projects and program evaluations. Her primary area of focus is education, but she has interest and experience with criminal justice and health-related research, programs, and policies. Trained as an experimental psychologist, Dr. Talbot has expertise in experimental designs, quasi-experimental designs, and survey research. She is well-versed in a variety of quantitative analytic methods (e.g., multiple regression, ANOVA, structural equation modeling [SEM]), and has a passion for mixed-methods designs. As a social psychologist, Dr. Talbot is skilled at identifying and measuring implicit bias, explicit bias, as well as other psychological constructs. She has a deep commitment to equity and applies it to all aspects of her work.
Prior to working at Public Policy Associates, Dr. Talbot held research positions at Loyola University Chicago and the University of Chicago conducting applied research and evaluation of STEM education programs. She worked at Stanford University evaluating the efficacy and quality of charter schools. Additionally, Dr. Talbot taught research methods courses to undergraduates and parlays skills she learned during her teaching experience to helping clients and stakeholders understand research and evaluation methods and processes.
Clients value her attention to detail, ability to tailor research and evaluation designs to clients’ needs, and her ability to distill and describe complex findings to diverse audiences.
Education
Dr. Talbot earned her Ph.D. in applied social psychology from Loyola University of Chicago, and her bachelor’s degree in philosophy with a minor in political science from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
