MEMORANDUM

To: Jessica Jorgenson

From: Brittany Nordick
Subject: Informational Interview
Date: December 2, 2014

I am a psychology and criminal justice major interested in continuing my education. I have not
decided on what career path I would like to pursue. The two options I am torn between is a
research based career in criminal justice and becoming a lawyer. To help with my research
proposal project and learn more about my career aspirations I wanted to interview a professor
from the criminal justice department at North Dakota State University that was experienced with
writing research grants and conducting research. Dr. Carol Archbold was an ideal candidate and
she agreed to discuss her knowledge of research grants in an interview that took place on
November 20, 2014 in her office at 12:15 PM. During the interview I asked several questions
concerning research grants and was pleased by the intelligent responses provided by Dr.
Archbold.
Summary
My interview with Dr. Archbold is summarized below following the format: questions asked
followed by her answer/my understanding of her answer.
Briefly describe your experience with writing research grants.
Dr. Archbolds research is largely funded by local and university grants, and rarely from
federal level grants. Her response to the question, I usually go after grants at a university
level or a local level; local or state agencies like the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center. The
study she executed in Williston, ND was funded by a small university level grant. She
explained that the study had, [a] shoe string budget, less than five thousand dollars. The
amount of funding different sources are able to provide vary, the university grants are
typically quite small. Dr. Archbold generally does not write grants at the federal level,
explaining that the odds of receiving money from a federal grant are slim and limits what
she is able to study.
How do you prepare to write a research proposal?
Dr. Archbold explained that typically, people will wait for RFP to come out and the
RFPs timeline will dictate the amount of work able to be spent preparing. Her advice:
write the methods section and form a concrete plan before writing the research proposal.
This is important because in the proposal you will need information contained in the
methods section, for example to determine the budget necessary for the study.
How do you identify good funding sources and make contact initially?
Dr. Archbold responded, I just call um up, you have to make the opportunities for
yourself; they are not going to fall in your lap. For her, looking for potential sources of
money and contacting them by phone and/or e-mail has worked best. The Weed and Seed

program she assessed was because she sent an e-mail out to the project leaders, attached
her curriculum vitae, and informed them that she would be able to do an evaluation if
they would like. Dr. Archbold is a professor at NDSU and because of this she also has
access to internal sources for funding. Also, to external funding sources professors at
research universities are perceived as credible and this provides advantages to securing
research funds.
Do you respond to requests for proposals or is this process different for research
proposals?
Dr. Archbolds response, When its relevant, I guess. She general comes up with ideas
than looks for sources of funding. Because she typically secures local or university level
grants she has done projects with very little funding. Relying on big grants can be
hazardous because the RFP may never come. For that reason, Dr. Archbold explains that
she would never be able to do the research she has done if she relied on federal grants.
Her research is specialized on the police.
Explain the differences in funders quality and aspects that could influence the
credibility of your research.
Finding credible funding sources for certain research projects can be more challenging
than others, according to Dr. Archbold. She explained an example of a study that lacked
credibility because the company that produced the product being studied was also
funding the study. Although, Dr. Archbold in that situation would maintain high integrity
and honestly report her findings, the study as a whole would not be viewed as credible
simply because of the funder. Generally, she will go for more neutral sources of funding,
for example from the dean.
What other challenges have occurred while working on research grants?
Dr. Archbold partnered with the International Association of Chiefs of Police out of
Washington D.C. to work on a large federal grant. The association had contacted her
when a RFP through the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) came out, the proposal could
request up to five-hundred thousand dollars. At the time, she thought it would be a good
idea to partner with this well established group, but she ended up completing a
disproportionate amount of the work. They did not get the grant and it was rewarded to a
researcher at the University of North Dakota. In short, working with other people can be
a challenge. Additionally, Dr. Archbold discussed that personal lives and other
obligations can hinder the possibility to complete RFPs in time or restrict time spent on
different aspects. She described one particular research opportunity that had arisen during
the summer and how working around her obligation to take care of her children made
everything extremely difficult to accomplish.
What obligations do you typically have to the funder once research is complete?
Dr. Archbold explained that obligations are discussed prior to completing the research
and a contract is drawn up to act as a legal bind. The contract helps to prevent funders
from requesting work to be done that was not part of their original agreement. She
discussed how everyone likes free stuff and without a contract funders would likely take
advantage of researchers by continuously requesting additional work to be done. When
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negotiating a contract, she always offers to write a report of the findings and listens to the
funders requests. Dr. Archbolds research is deeply important to her, and it reflects in the
remainder of her response to the question I have done pro-bono work with the Fargo
Police Department, I may not get paid in money but as long as I have rights to the data, to
me thats as good as money. Contracts for pro-bono work are also important in order to
have an understanding of what is expected.
What I learned
The summary of my interview with Dr. Archbold discussed much of what I learned directly from
the questions I asked. However, this interview taught me more than just that. Research proposals
are different from writing other types of proposals. To fully appreciate how research proposals
function, it appears to be important to be trained as a researcher. Researchers are driven by the
studies they want to perform, and writing research grants is the tool used to obtain resources for
their studies. Dr. Archbolds discussion of her preference for local and university grants is
because it allows her to study what she is most interested in. The drawback is that large scale
studies are not accommodated by such sources and is why there is much research on the criminal
justice system still to be done. From this interview, I was able to learn more about research
grants, but there is more I would like to know.
What I wish I had learned
Speaking with Dr. Archbold about research grant writing was useful for this project and for
learning more about a career as a researcher concentrated on studying the criminal justice
system. The interview was just over twenty minutes and provided valuable information, but
because of the limited time spent together only so much information could be shared. I wish
there had been more time to discuss how her research benefits her. Briefly, in the final question I
asked the benefit to researchers was brought up. From her response I became aware that the data
collected can be the benefit and pay is not necessary for some researchers. In addition, I would
have liked to learn about how she professionally designs her proposals and how she gathers
critical information in a timely fashion, for example determining the budget for her studies. I
have expanded my knowledge on my career aspirations and the skills that will help me perform
tasks to an employers standards. However, I still lack the answer to what career I will enjoy
most and best suit my skills overall. The interview with Dr. Archbold was informative and
provided a good foundation to continue to seek out the answers to my unanswered questions.