matt dumas & mjd research, LLC

 MJD Research is the fruition of a lifelong dream by me, Matt Dumas.  My diverse professional experience has allowed me to create this company and offer services that play to my strengths while helping you with your needs.

MJD Research is a one-man show.  That guarantees all work will be performed with the meticulousness I expect and that you deserve.

 I am a graduate of the Defiance College, class of 1998, with a Bachelor of Science in History.  I was proud to be on the Dean’s List in conjunction with being a captain on the Defiance College baseball team. 

  I spent the first four years of my career as an educator.  I taught 8th grade for three years and 6th grade for one year.  I showed initiative and leadership immediately, as I was directly responsible for a host of school functions and events.  Helping my students get into the high schools they aspired to attend was my most important goal. 

 One of my proudest professional accomplishments was ‘teaching myself how to teach.’  Being an educator was not my focus in college, thus I didn’t take any “education” classes.  I had to learn, create, and improvise immediately.  I did it, and I did it with tremendous success. 

 I became an Assistant Account Executive at Global Growth Group (G3) in 2003.  I was in the Auditing, Consulting, and Training (ACT) division of the company.  This was my introduction into the mystery shop business and studying the customer experience.  I scheduled large projects, trained newly hired shoppers, and was directly responsible for meeting project deadlines.  QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) Magazine conducted a yearly study in which fast food restaurants were evaluated on many factors.  I was directly responsible for successfully completing that project in 2004 and 2005. 

I made two trips to Puerto Rico in 2003 to conduct audits/mystery shops at a top gas station chain.  Although it was a little harrowing, I successfully completed the job in my one-week deadline.  Those were memorable experiences.  G3 ultimately went out of business in 2005. 

My 15-year career with Alta360 Research (formerly Ritter Associates) started in 2005.  I quickly forged a lasting relationship with then owner, Bill Ritter, that continues to this day. 

I became lead scheduler almost immediately and Operations Manager shortly thereafter.  Scheduling mystery shops is a difficult job.  If you can't multitask, you will drown immediately.  I mastered the skills and I was the best. 

We had 70 to 100 active clients.  As Operations Manager, I was chiefly responsible for project completions. There was a deadline around every corner.  I also bore the financial responsibility of making sure projects were completed on time while remaining profitable for the company.  This was challenging to say the least, but I was successful.  I also interviewed, hired, and trained new employees.

Early on, I undertook the responsibility of creating instructional guides, shopper tutorials, and certifications for all projects.  I quickly discovered how I excelled at the cognitive duties of the job. 

I loved charting trends, analyzing profit margins, charting daily completion rates, creating instructional guides for new projects, and reviewing/analyzing completed surveys.  I even created a comprehensive “Scheduler of the Month” program.  I liked doing it and I was good at it.

I was heavily relied upon, and over my 15 years, my ideas and initiatives could be found throughout the company.  I was a presenter at industry conferences and always represented the company with dignity and respect.  

I acquired many unique skills and have always been heavily complemented for my written work, articulation, and leadership.  Heck, I'm even pretty savvy with HTML coding.

Ultimately, I was a casualty of COVID in 2020.  When COVID hit, almost all clients put their mystery shop programs on hiatus for quite some time.  Many people were laid off and/or lost their jobs.  I was one of them.

 That brings me to MJD Research.  My primary client is a law firm specializing in plaintiff litigation on benzene cases in which I perform various paralegal tasks. My research-based services have included article research, article summaries, article indexing, medical record reviews, medical record summaries, product research, and general case research.  

Regarding direct paralegal tasks, my services include summarizing depositions, answering and preparing discovery requests, and case exhibit management including Bates numbering and file redaction.

Like "teaching myself how to teach" all those years ago, I’ve had a similar undertaking with my paralegal career. I’ve had years of daily tutelage from an attorney with 20+ years’ experience.  I have learned an abundance of information and am wholly confident in my skills.

I have also provided key consultation and administrative services for one of the top message therapy businesses in northwest Ohio.  My services include the analysis and purging of their client list, composition of (or consultation of) outgoing communications with clients, and ongoing consultation on business decisions with a focus on professional communication to their clients.


A diverse work experience is the key asset I bring to MJD Research.

My 18 years of experience in the mystery shopping world required me to master new skills, meet stressful deadlines, adapt, and be successful.

I’m a notorious hard worker.  I love to take on projects and see them to their successful completion.

On a personal side, I have many personal, highly analytical projects I’m currently working on; I'm a board member in my condominium association; I create (highly complemented) newsletters for both my family and our condo association; and I just completed a dazzling family anthology project.

And. . . I am a skilled Scrabble player.