Cathy has 45 years of experience managing all aspects of survey research for data collection projects including sample selection, listing, screening, questionnaire development, focus groups, cognitive interviewing, pilot testing, systems development and testing, remote and in-person training, data collection, records abstraction, reporting, data preparation, data delivery, and documentation. 

She has developed training and mentoring programs that have resulted in improved data quality, designed strategies that maintain or increase response rates, and implemented quality improvement programs that have increased the quality and efficiency of NORC's data collection processes. 

Cathy was a special issue guest editor of Housing Policy Debate, published in 2010. She has also co-authored scholarly papers addressing survey methodology and poverty-related issues; these papers have been presented at the following conferences: American Association for Public Opinion Research, the Urban Affairs Association, Population Association of America; National Association for Welfare Research and Statistics, and the Society for Lifelong and Longitudinal Studies.

Since 2001 Cathy has managed the triennial Survey of Consumer Finances, which collects data about household finances from a dual frame sample; these uniquely comprehensive high-quality data are considered the gold standard in wealth measurement. She also managed the design and decade long data collection of both the Making Connections and Resident Relocation projects, each focused on collecting data from residents in poor urban settings. 

Cathy was a member of the NORC IRB between 2000 and 2021. She initiated and since 2015 has overseen the committee examining field data collection challenges and opportunities. Cathy has been the co-chair of NORC’s Working Paper Series since it was first established in 2014. She helped to develop NORC’s proprietary tool ProofPoint, a dashboard designed to examine data anomalies and measure data quality.

Prior to joining NORC in 1987, Cathy worked as director of Telephone Operations at the Rand Corporation and director of the Telephone Center at UCLA’s Institute for Social Science Research.