GORBI
In 1990, together with two postgraduate classmates from the Tbilisi State University Department of Sociology, Merab Pachulia set up the first-ever independent opinion research organization in Georgia. The scope of our first surveys covered the entire country including Abkhazia and South Ossetia and the very first clients were the Radio Liberty Institute, USIA, Gallup UK and the European Union. Before the civil war in Georgia in 1991-1992, the group commissioned 20 different nationwide surveys and a few focus group projects. Through studying abroad, intensively reviewing literature on research methodology and working directly with clients as part of survey work we gained invaluable research experience. During the first three years of our existence we conducted two waves of the Eurobarometer surveys and a few ad hoc surveys on political attitudes and media usage. Since 1996, the organization has grown steadily as the demand for scientific research has been on the steady increase. International and domestic clients begun to realize that it is possible to conduct independent and reliable quantitative and qualitative research in Georgia. Since GORBI’s inception, its’ philosophy has always been to deepen the knowledge and to raise the research standards of our staff through training, conducting workshops and seminars. At present we have around 150 well-trained interviewers who only specialize in opinion polling. They have all gained significant experience in conducting surveys and are familiar with current events. They are fully dedication to conducting surveys and maintain highest industry standards. We also have a team of well-trained supervisors and 4 small, regional offices in different parts of Georgia.
Principal Investigator and Team Leader: Merab Pachulia (41), sociologists He is trained in quantitative and qualitative research methods for the social sciences and has a long and successful history of conducting various projects for both international and domestic clients, including various academic institutions, NGOs, financial institutions, thinks tanks and the donor community, etc. Over the past 18 years Mr. Pachulia was in charge of over 100 public opinion and social assessment projects; many projects are related to income generation, rule of law and buttressed with various on-going reform and project assessments, civil society, public health, tourism, education, rural development, etc. He has served as a team leader for number of INTAS projects. Merab directed several projects including work in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Georgia. He studied sociology and political sickness in UK and the US; he has also accomplished postgraduate courses in sociology at Tbilisi State University, Department of Sociology. Merab received an internship at British Academy of Sciences, Soros foundation, IREX. He is an author over 150 interviews, articles publish in western and domestic periodicals, books and magazines. The team, leaded by Merab also includes senior project manager Mrs. Shorena Khurtsidze, who worked for the last ten years a wide range of social assessments, including youth and poverty measurement projects with GORBI for international institutions and Senior consultant in health related research projects, Margarita Sarishvili, MD. Kaunas Medical School, Lithuania, Tbilisi State University, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK (public health medicine and transfusion science, population and reproductive health; women’s health; social science methods and public health research). Completed program Central/East European HIV Education Center in New York, Fogarty International Center and a National Institutes of Health project (HIV/AIDS).
Team Leader
Dr. Merab Pachulia
(E-Mail)
Survey Agencies
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SIAR Research and Consulting, Baku, Azerbaijan
Research Director: Ashraf Hajiyev
Armenia Sociological Association, Yerevan, Armenia
Research Director: Gevorg Poghosvan
