John E. Thomas, Executive Director
John E. Thomas, Executive Director, has 20 years of experience in research. John’s research expertise includes all aspects of qualitative and quantitative primary and secondary research design, implementation, analysis, reporting and presentation of findings. He has an extensive background in customer loyalty research, advertising research, brand awareness/image tracking, product development research and product application/usage studies.

John is responsible for strategic account management and business development as well as management and development of our quantitative and qualitative research practices. He provides strategic consulting, research design and analysis as an executive level project director and team leader to our clients on custom research projects and syndicated studies. John is also a professionally trained moderator, having conducted thousands of focus groups and one-on-one in-depth interviews (IDIs), both business-to-business as well as business-to-consumer.

John is a graduate of The University of Michigan, where he earned a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology, and Wayne State University where he earned a Masters Degree in Organizational Psychology.

Along with being a sought-after speaker, John has completed Executive Education courses at Stanford University and periodically lectures at The Harvard School of Public Health on the topic of market research. John is also currently an adjunct lecturer at the University of Detroit Mercy.

Beth McGuffin, Executive Director
Beth McGuffin, Executive Director of Clear Seas Research, has over 13 years in the market research industry. Beth's research experience includes all aspects of qualitative and quantitative research design, implementation, analysis, reporting and presentation of findings.

Prior to joining Clear Seas Research, in July 2006, Beth worked for GfK/NOP Automotive where she conducted both quantitative and qualitative automotive research projects nationally and globally. Her experience includes telephone surveys, advanced product static and dynamic clinics, mail surveys, Internet surveys, qualitative focus groups, and mall intercepts. Beth has been instrumental in conducting various research programs focused on new product development, customer satisfaction, product/brand positioning, nomenclature, new product positioning/pricing, competitive market analysis, advertising awareness, creative testing, mystery shopping, dealership satisfaction, and more.

Before getting into the automotive market research industry Beth spent time at Market Strategies and Nordhaus Research where she worked on projects for healthcare, pharmaceutical, financial, consumer packaged goods and political clients.

Beth holds a BS in Marketing from Oakland University and a Masters of Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from the University of Detroit-Mercy. Beth has also completed moderator training at the RIVA Training Institute.

Sarah Corp, Executive Director
Sarah Corp, Executive Director, has over 10 years of market research experience. Her extensive background includes product development, product/brand positioning, market opportunity, advertising, nomenclature and customer satisfaction/loyalty research.

Along with providing strategic account management and business development for custom and syndicated research projects she is also a RIVA trained moderator.

Prior to joining the Clear Seas team, Sarah worked for Gongos Research where she conducted research in the automotive/powersports and retail industries. Her experience includes advanced product clinics, Internet, mail and telephone surveys, qualitative focus groups and mall/CLT intercepts.

Sarah is a graduate of Michigan State University, where she earned her Bachelor and Masters degrees, as well as Advanced Statistical Methods Certification from the University of Michigan.