Mission
We help you conduct and communicate high-quality, reliable research on social issues.
At Elephant Path – Research & Consulting, we guide organizations and individuals toward better insights and informed decisions. We provide expert support throughout the entire research process—from designing meaningful projects to selecting methods, analyzing data, and presenting findings with impact.
We specialize in social science research, particularly the dynamic relationships between individuals and their social, cultural, and ecological contexts. Our interdisciplinary approach combines theoretical perspectives and empirical insights from diverse disciplines, offering deeper understanding of complex societal issues.
WHAt we do
Our Services
Advise
We provide expert guidance throughout the research process:
Research design
Pose the right questions and choose optimal methods for your study
Statistical consulting
Maximize the potential of your available data
Thematic expertise
Obtain evidence-based insights on issues related to youth, education, and mental health
About
Suzan Doornwaard, PhD
I strongly believe in the transformative power of interdisciplinary collaboration and integration of academic, professional, and local expertise to tackle complex societal challenges. As an independent researcher, I am dedicated to delivering high-quality, objective, and reliable research that deepens understanding through rigorous analysis and evidence-based insights.
My research approach is comprehensive—theoretically, empirically, and methodologically. I’ve successfully coordinated diverse projects across academic research, participatory and action-oriented studies, monitoring and evaluation, and scientific consultancies. By combining quantitative and qualitative methods and drawing from various disciplines, I address the multifaceted nature of today’s wicked problems. I believe that embracing this broad research perspective is vital for capturing the nuances of complex issues and developing tailored interventions.
I very much enjoyed and recommend working with The Elephant Path. While Suzan was building the website for our research project, I experienced her as being very skilled and creative. On top of that, I feel that she was able to contribute more in-depth insights as well because of her background in Social Sciences. Suzan is enthusiastic, hard-working, and I am very impressed by the end product, our research website.
Maud Hensums
PhD Candidate, University of Amsterdam
It was a pleasure working with The Elephant Path. Suzan did an excellent job translating and proofreading my manuscript. Not only was her proofreading meticulous, but she also did a thorough check of the methods and data and made some critical suggestions on the content of the manuscript.
Regina van den Eijnden
Assistant Professor, Utrecht University
Suzan helped me with a research grant proposal by visualizing the research design and research questions. After reading my proposal and only one short talk, she managed to make a clear and structured overview of my research plans and to create an appealing set of figures to accompany my grant proposal. Her sketches even helped me to get a clearer view of my own plan. She works quick and effective and was able to help me fine-tune the last details in the rush of meeting my deadline.
Rianne Kok
Assistant Professor, Erasmus University Rotterdam
It was a pleasure working with Suzan. She is skilled, creative and her knowledge of the research field came in very useful. Not only did Suzan design a beautiful website for our research project, but also helped translate the contents into lay-terms for parents and schools. Suzan is attentive to her clients’ wishes: she understood what I was looking for without much explanation. I highly recommend her services.
Brechtje de Mooij
Researcher, University of Amsterdam
In one word, I would describe Suzan's editorial talent as "brilliant." She and I worked on the structure and the content of my thesis at a point where I got stuck with so many pre-written materials that did not contribute to a well-structured storyline. With her experience in academic writing, Suzan immediately came up with several on-target ideas and helped me re-format my story into a coherent and fluent one while maintaining the relevance for the intended audience. I would be more than happy to collaborate with her again in the future!
Cagri
PhD Candidate, TU Delft
During my thesis research for the Bachelor Applied Psychology, Suzan advised me on the quantitative data analysis. She helped me select the proper statistical techniques, explained how to perform the analyses in SPSS, and helped me interpret and describe the results. Her feedback was really helpful!
Anouk
Psychology Graduate, Saxion University of Applied Sciences
Research website
Working with Elephant Path - Research & Consulting was simply great! Building my website, I really felt Suzan listened closely to what I wanted and aligned herself well with the ideas I had. But she also came in with additional suggestions and ideas that I’d never thought of. Because of this, the website in the end looked super professional—better than I’d ever dreamt of.
Geertjan Overbeek
Director, Research Institute Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam
Research visuals and presentation design
When I approached Suzan for visualizing my research ideas, I had a vague idea of what I wanted as an end result, but urgently needed someone to help me get there. Elephant Path - Research & Consulting literally carved out a road in a jungle of opportunities and I did not doubt my choice of working with Suzan for even a second along the way. I can recommend Suzan to anyone who needs someone who is very perceptive of a client’s goals and extremely powerful in developing and implementing a strategy to achieve this. I couldn’t have wished for a better support for my project!
Maria Schiller
Assistant Professor, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Research website
It was a pleasure working with Suzan. She is skilled, creative and her knowledge of the research field came in very useful. Not only did Suzan design a beautiful website for our research project, but also helped translate the contents into lay-terms for parents and schools. Suzan is attentive to her clients’ wishes: she understood what I was looking for without much explanation. I highly recommend her services.
Brechtje de Mooij
Researcher, University of Amsterdam
Translating and proofreading
It was a pleasure working with Elephant Path - Research & Consulting. Suzan did an excellent job translating and proofreading my manuscript. Not only was her proofreading meticulous, but she also did a thorough check of the methods and data and made some critical suggestions on the content of the manuscript.
Regina van den Eijnden
Assistant Professor, Utrecht University
Quantitative advisor for ResultsinHealth
ResultsinHealth brought a dynamic, rigorous, and inquisitive
posture to the project. These characteristics helped tremendously given the multiple partners and
stakeholders that needed to be managed across the consortium. I was impressed with the team’s attention to detail, their critical analysis and ability to work under
intense pressure given an everchanging field dynamic due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They helped us pull off an evaluation we genuinely did not know if we could deliver on once borders started closing and in-country restrictions were put in place.
Program Director
World Vision Canada
Research visuals and website design
Suzan helped me with a research grant proposal by visualizing the research design and research questions. After reading my proposal and only one short talk, she managed to make a clear and structured overview of my research plans and to create an appealing set of figures to accompany my grant proposal. Her sketches even helped me to get a clearer view of my own plan. She works quick and effective and was able to help me fine-tune the last details in the rush of meeting my deadline.
Rianne Kok
Assistant Professor, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Research visuals and presentation design
So incredibly happy with all the help from Suzan for my ERC grant proposal. After reading an early draft proposal, Suzan created beautiful and clear visualisations of my main research interests and (rather complex) theoretical framework. This was very helpful not only in terms of conveying my ideas to others, but also for structuring my ideas for myself. Suzan then helped me create my presentation for the interview, which had the same clarity and helped me communicate my main message in a very effective way.
Samira van Bohemen
Assistant Professor, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Research website
I very much enjoyed and recommend working with Elephant Path - Research & Consulting. While Suzan was building the website for our research project, I experienced her as being very skilled and creative. On top of that, I feel that she was able to contribute more in-depth insights as well because of her background in Social Sciences. Suzan is enthusiastic, hard-working, and I am very impressed by the end product, our research website.
Maud Hensums
PhD Candidate, University of Amsterdam
Proofreading
In one word, I would describe Suzan's editorial talent as "brilliant." She and I worked on the structure and the content of my thesis at a point where I got stuck with so many pre-written materials that did not contribute to a well-structured storyline. With her experience in academic writing, Suzan immediately came up with several on-target ideas and helped me re-format my story into a coherent and fluent one while maintaining the relevance for the intended audience. I would be more than happy to collaborate with her again in the future!
Cagri Tekinay
PhD Candidate, TU Delft
Quantitative advisor
During my thesis research for the Bachelor Applied Psychology, Suzan advised me on the quantitative data analysis. She helped me select the proper statistical techniques, explained how to perform the analyses in SPSS, and helped me interpret and describe the results. Her feedback was really helpful!
Anouk Senz
Psychology Graduate, Saxion University of Applied Sciences
These are some of the organizations that worked with us:
