Research Analyst

As a Research Analyst at Market Connections, Inc. Melissa Burgess designs, implements and reports on both qualitative and quantitative research projects, including customer satisfaction, benchmarking and attitude, awareness and usage studies. Melissa is adept at targeting minority and other hard to reach populations, and is trained in interdisciplinary research methodologies.

Melissa earned her M.S. in Sociology, with an Africana Studies concentration, from Virginia Tech. For her M.S. thesis Melissa conducted in-person, in-depth interviews exploring multiracial identity development. Specifically, the research addressed sociological factors that cause variation in the development process and the presence of autonomy is self-asserting one's identity. During graduate school Melissa worked as a part of Virginia Tech's University Development team and as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. As a TA, Melissa was a significant contributor to undergraduate introduction and upper level theory courses, as well as the growth of the American Indian Studies and Women and Gender Studies programs within the Department of Sociology.

Melissa holds a B.A. in History and a B.A. in Political Science, both also from Virginia Tech. She was recently published in the Western Journal of Black Studies as the lead author on "A Review of Africana Methodologies from Molefi Kete Asante, Terry Kershaw and Ama Mazama: The Africana Paradigm We Need to Embrace."

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