This article is the first in a new series that features our incredible CSSI staff. We invite you to get familiar with their areas of expertise, campus services, and what drives them to do this work. Continue reading to learn how Mike Oie’s broad background in research study coordination, political science, and data management informs his current position.

Mike Oie, data analytics specialist for the Center for Social Science Innovation (CSSI), has been with the center since 2020. Since entering his role, he’s supported a variety of research projects led by not only university faculty and staff but community members and national organizations.

Oie first found an interest in data analytics while studying political science. “I always found the mechanisms of elections to be really interesting,” said Oie. “I also had a huge interest in international politics, studying parliaments and other structures.” 

After graduating with his master’s in political science from Illinois State University, Oie worked as a data manager for a nonprofit in Seattle which conducted studies on homeless services programs. Once his employment term with the nonprofit ended, Oie went on to operate as a research study coordinator at Washington State University. 

“I oversaw the visits for the study participants,” explained Oie. “People would come into the office and I’d take their height, blood pressure, and collect all the data they gathered with a monitor we provided over a two-week period. It was a huge benefit that both of my work experiences prior to coming to CSSI showed me the research process from both sides—as both a high-level data manager and someone working actively with study participants.”

At the Center for Social Science Innovation, Oie is responsible for data management, analysis, and survey programming for the center’s research projects. With his specializations in programs such as Qualtrics, REDCap, and WinCATI, Oie assists faculty, staff, community members, and other researchers in programming complex surveys, ensuring that their mode for data collection proceeds smoothly and accurately.

“This is where extra training can really come in handy,” notes Oie. “In a lot of the projects I’ve worked on, researchers want to utilize randomization or complicated setups that might not be easy to execute based on the tutorials provided by Qualtrics. My training has allowed me to understand certain elements of the program that might not even be present in the Qualtrics FAQ or other resources.”

Oie is currently undergoing additional Qualtrics training, completing two certifications— Platform Essentials and a CoreXM Expert Certification. The Platform Essentials certification provides further insight into project design and the built-in reporting tools within the Qualtrics Platform. The CoreXM Expert Certification provides an even more in-depth look at the beneficial features of Qualtrics for research professionals. “That training focuses on setting up more complex research and question types and should be helpful in learning new survey building techniques,” said Oie.

Oie also provides data access and management support for researchers on campus. In particular, he is the university’s liaison to the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR). As the ICPSR liaison, he assists data users in locating, downloading, and working with ICPSR data. 

Oie considers his role at the center to be a resource for researchers to build efficiency in their projects. “I'm able to take on some of the more preparatory steps for the researchers that take up a lot of their time so they’re able to focus on the next phases of their study.” 

Outside of work, Oie enjoys being out in nature, either running or visiting national parks with his brother. Most recently, Oie visited Glacier National Park in Montana over the summer season. He hopes to visit Yosemite and some of the other parks in the state of California, as well as parks in Hawaii. 

“My favorite park I’ve visited was one in Canyonlands, which is in Utah near the Arches. We basically did every hike, and because it was overcast, there were very few people on the trail.” 

Looking ahead, Oie will be spearheading several new offerings at the center, most notably additions to CSSI’s development opportunities. Part of Oie’s role as the data analytics specialist includes coordinating CSSI’s workshop series, which provides graduate students, staff, and faculty the chance to become familiar with common programming languages, data handling, and more. 

The center has most recently offered introductory sessions on spatial data management, mapping, and analysis, machine learning using Python, R programming, and multilevel modeling. 

“Starting in the spring, we’re going to expand the scope of our workshop offerings,” said Oie. “Most of our sessions in the past have been more geared towards beginners, so our goal for early next year is to have different faculty members present and contribute to higher level statistical workshops for those already familiar with the basics of certain programming languages and processes.” 

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