Research — Portfolio — 2026 Saint Paul, Minnesota

Data-driven research for the questions that matter.

I’m Bálint Néray — a quantitative researcher with a Ph.D. in Sociology and nine years of end-to-end research at Meta and Northwestern University. I translate large-scale human behavior data into clear, actionable insight for product, public-health, and scientific audiences.

See my work balint.neray@gmail.com
01 About

My career has lived at the intersection of human behavior, complex data, and strategic narrative. At Meta’s Internet Community Growth Research team I led quantitative studies that shaped how hundreds of millions of people experienced Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram. Before that, I spent four years at Northwestern University applying advanced network models to public health, HIV prevention, and infectious-disease inequalities. A long-running thread across that work — and the foundation of my dissertation — is longitudinal panel research on adolescent populations in secondary schools, examining how peers, friendships, and ethnic identity shape student experiences over time.

I’m most useful on problems where the data is large, the signal is subtle, and the stakeholders are varied. I care about research that survives first contact with a real decision — that means careful design, honest uncertainty, and the patience to write things down well.

Based in
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Doctorate
Ph.D. in Sociology, Corvinus University of Budapest (2017)
Fellowship
Fulbright Visiting Research Fellow, Duke University
Recent focus
Education research, UX research, public-health informatics, applied social-network analysis
02 Experience

Nine years of research, across industry and academia.

  1. 2026—Present Saint Paul, MN · Remote

    Independent Quantitative Research Consultant

    Self-employed · Current engagement with New York University

    • Independent quantitative research consulting — survey methodology, statistical analysis in R, and longitudinal-network analysis applied to research and program-evaluation questions.
  2. 2021—2025 Menlo Park, CA · Remote

    User Experience Researcher

    Meta · Internet Community Growth Research (ICGR)

    • Designed and led end-to-end quantitative studies that informed product strategy for Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram at scale.
    • Conducted multivariable regression, A/B testing, and predictive modeling across datasets of 200k–500k records using R and SQL.
    • Translated findings into story-driven insights for leadership across product, data-science, engineering, content, and privacy partners.
    • Built a new survey-based data input that shaped content and audience recommendations for users across 40+ countries.
  3. 2019—2021 Evanston, IL

    Postdoctoral Research Associate

    Northwestern University · Science of Networks in Communities (SONIC) Lab

    • Applied Bayesian ALAAM models to study how social influence shapes uptake of modern contraceptive methods in Kenya.
    • Led end-to-end survey design and implementation for NIH-funded population-health studies.
    • Designed and taught a graduate course on Social Network Analysis at the McCormick School of Engineering.
  4. 2017—2019 Chicago, IL

    Postdoctoral Research Fellow

    Northwestern University · Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing (ISGMH)

    • Used Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGMs) to investigate infectious-disease inequalities and network-driven health disparities.
    • Partnered with the Chicago Department of Public Health to implement network-based tools for disease investigation.
    • Co-authored five peer-reviewed publications and a funded R01 proposal.
  5. 2016—2017 Lugano, Switzerland

    Pre-doctoral Research Fellow

    Università della Svizzera italiana · Social Network Analysis Research Center (SoNAR-C)

    • Applied Stochastic Actor-Oriented Models (SAOMs) to advice-seeking networks among hospital workers.
    • Co-authored the paper that received the Academy of Management Best Global Paper Award in 2019.
  6. 2014—2015 Durham, NC

    Fulbright Visiting Research Fellow

    Duke University · Duke Network Analysis Center (DNAC)

    • Studied how positive and negative interpersonal ties shape ethnic identity among high-school students using ERGMs.
    • Received the INSNA Best Student Paper Award (with co-author) in 2015.
03 Expertise

What I bring to a team.

Quantitative research

End-to-end design of quantitative research — from sampling strategy and survey instrument to statistical analysis, visualization, and narrative.

Statistical & network modeling

Multivariable regression, predictive modeling, ERGMs, SAOMs, ALAAM. I pick the method that fits the question, not the other way around.

Data visualization & storytelling

Translating dense quantitative findings into clear, non-technical narratives that move decisions — in R-Shiny, Power BI, or a well-chosen chart.

Research strategy & operations

Scoping ambiguous questions, managing cross-functional roadmaps, and building the workflow guides and codebooks that let good research compound.

Languages & tools
  • R
  • SQL
  • R-Shiny
  • Power BI
  • STATA
  • SPSS
  • Python
  • Excel
Network analysis
  • ERGM
  • SAOM
  • ALAAM
  • UCINET
  • Pajek
  • Gephi
Methods
  • Survey design
  • Sampling & weighting
  • Longitudinal panel data
  • Quasi-experimental analysis
  • Post-stratification weighting
  • A/B testing
  • Predictive modeling
  • Data wrangling
  • Usability testing
04 Selected publications

Peer-reviewed work across sociology, health, and organizations.

Education & adolescent networks

Longitudinal social-network research on secondary-school student populations — peer dynamics, cross-race friendships, and ethnic identity formation.

Public health & disease networks

HIV/PrEP utilization, sexual-mixing patterns, and identity-management research with the Chicago Department of Public Health and NIH-funded programs.

Workplace & organizational networks

Network dynamics in professional settings — centrality, advice-seeking, and support.

See the complete publication list — including book chapters and additional peer-reviewed work — on Google Scholar

Selected recognition

  • 2019Academy of Management — Best Global Paper Award
  • 2017Polanyi Award — Hungarian Sociological Association, best paper of the year
  • 2015INSNA — Best Student Paper Award (with Zs. Boda)
  • 2013Campus Hungary Visiting Researcher Grant — University of Groningen
05 Contact

Looking for a researcher who can turn ambiguity into decisions?

I’m currently doing independent quantitative research consulting (including an engagement with New York University), while exploring full-time roles in education research and evaluation, UX research, applied public-health research, and data science — Twin Cities-anchored or fully remote. The best way to reach me is by email.

Email balint.neray@gmail.com Phone (312) 684–5067 LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/balintneray