Amanda Ford

MA, Survey Research, 2015

Associate Principal, Applied Marketing Science, Inc.

Amanda (Smedstad) Ford graduated from the Master of Arts in Survey Research (MASR) program in May of 2015. She is currently an Associate Principal at Applied Marketing Science, Inc., a market research and consulting firm outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Applied Marketing Science (AMS) provides market research, consulting and expert insight for innovation and litigation. As part of the litigation practice, Amanda has successfully led qualitative and quantitative market research projects relating to litigation matters. She has worked with experts on complex cases related to trademark and trade dress confusion, secondary meaning, false and deceptive advertising, as well as class action matters. Her day to day responsibilities include client management, designing surveys, analyzing research data, and report development.

Upon learning about UConn’s MASR program, Amanda was originally attracted to the flexible online format that would allow her to work full time while earning an advanced degree. In particular, she sought a program that would allow her to concentrate on both qualitative and quantitative survey methodology courses. While enrolled, she appreciated that the faculty tailored the curriculum to fit the diverse career goals of her peers, including public policy and market research. Learning from students with a mix of educational and professional backgrounds while being able to focus the learnings to her unique career aspirations has proven to be very beneficial in her career development. The MASR solidified her desire to work directly with clients to provide important business insights and strengthened the skills necessary to manage research projects from the early stages of proposal through data collection, analysis and research delivery.

When looking into the MASR, Amanda highly recommends talking with current or previous students before enrolling to ask questions and learn more about the program.

Amanda also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and a Minor in Psychology from Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts. She lives with her husband and two children in the Boston suburbs. Outside of work, her hobbies include skiing in the mountains of New Hampshire, attending musical concerts, watching the Patriots, and reading.