Kelas Research, a consumer anthropology and marketing research company, was founded in 2005 by Patricia F. Cleary, MA. Kelas Research grew from a progression of ideas including the solitary work of anthropology, the applied creativity of graphic design, and the community of the web. 

Patricia’s background is unique among anthropology investigators; before obtaining her anthropology degrees she’d much earlier acquired an undergraduate degree in visual design and pursued a career in the graphic design field. Over the course of 15 yrs she’s worked with international pharmaceutical and consumer electronics corporations, national consumer magazines, and STM publishing.

Exposure to advertising environments inspired many questions concerning modern culture, technology, and the symbolic value of visual art. Realizing an MFA would not satisfy her intellectual curiosity, Patricia returned to school and completed rigorous BA and MA programs in Practical/Applied Anthropology at Montclair State University. Her studies included medical anthropology, forensics, acculturation, cultural diffusion, systems theory, semiotics, sociology, popular culture, and economics. 

Her master’s treatise, "Targeted Addiction: Outdoor Advertisement, Alcohol Access, and Drinking Behavior Among Two Populations in Northern New Jersey" included the utilization of ethnographic, qualitative, and quantitative methodologies that incorporated new media techniques for studying consumer behavior in the context of alcohol advertising, consumption, and the targeted marketing of African American and college student communities.

Patricia will be presenting a condensed multimedia synopsis of this treatise in the “Health Issues in Popular Culture” section at the 2006 Popular Culture/American Culture Association National Conference in Atlanta, GA.

Current research includes the investigation of shifting usage trends in the expanding field of eBooks, eJournals, electronic libraries, and Open Access. Traditional STM publishing models are being challenged by new technologies in how data is acquired, accessed, and disseminated. STM publishing is undergoing a rapid evolution and paradigm shift that will change forever the economics of publishing and how scientific data is accessed on a global scale.  

Patricia is a member of the American Anthropological Association, the Society for Applied Anthropology, the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology, and the Lambda Alpha Anthropology Honors Society.