About Dr. Pearson
Danielle K. Pearson, Ph.D.
Hi, I'm Dr. Dani Pearson and I own and am the sole operator of Pearson Dissertation Services. I opened PDS in 2014 with the goal of using the wealth of knowledge I have gained in understanding research and academia to help support graduate students in achieving their goals and successfully completing their dissertations.
I earned my BA in Psychology at UC Riverside before moving to Scotland for graduate school at the University of Stirling. I earned my MSc in Psychological Research Methods and PhD in Psychology with a research focus on how aspects of early language access (deafness, bilingualism) impact the development of social and cognitive skills, such as perspective taking and executive functioning. After returning to the US, I worked for a company that assisted students with different parts of the dissertation process before moving into the community college sector. I served in the role of Research Analyst and Senior Research Analyst at an Aspen Institute 2017 Top Ten College prior to becoming a full-time faculty member specializing in undergraduate statistics and research methods.
Through my previous extensive experience working with dissertation and undergraduate students, I have been able to cultivate my data coaching skills and become very familiar with the dissertation process used at many higher education institutions in the U.S. I really enjoy data coaching and so have continued to do consulting work with students as my schedule and need allows. I have experience working with clients with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods, the majority of whom express high anxiety and uncertainty regarding how to continue making progress on their dissertation. You can learn more about my professional background on my LinkedIn page.
I currently live with my son, mother, and too many dogs and cats in Riverside, California.
Skills
Research, Statistics, Data Analysis, Research Design, Academic Writing, Higher Education, Quantitative Research, Qualitative Research, Academic Coaching
Experienced with a variety of quantitative and qualitative analysis software tools and packages, including SPSS, JASP, R, Epi Info, NVivo, MaxQDA, SPSS Text Analytics, and G*Power
Education
Ph.D. Psychology
University of Stirling
2009 - 2014
My research focused on the development of key cognitive and linguisitic skills among young children, as well as how language background (primarily deafness and bilingualism) affects the development of these skills.
Dissertation: Effect of Language Background on Metalinguistic Awareness and Theory of Mind
M.Sc. Psychological Research Methods
University of Stirling
2008 - 2009
My research focused on the effects of sign language use among Deaf individuals on perspective-taking skills in adulthood.
Thesis: Perspective Taking Differences Between Deaf and Hearing Individuals during Referential Communication
B.A. Psychology
University of California, Riverside
2003 - 2007
During my time as an undergraduate, I worked for a company that conducted educational research for a year and a half. I then went on to work for a year in a psycholinguistics labortatory on campus as a research assistant, coordinating data collection, volunteer schedules, and assisting in coding of data.