Social Sciences Data Project Researcher - 140828

This is a 100% limited hybrid position for one year. The appointment may be extended or converted to career status based on department needs. Some time on campus each week is required.

About the role

The Rady School of Management provides business education through degree programs (PhD and four Masters), undergraduate education, and executive business programs. The school includes several Centers of Excellence and advances business through meaningful research and educating principled, innovative leaders.

Under direct guidance of Rady School faculty, the Research Data Analyst 2 applies acquired skills and knowledge to support social sciences research projects of small to medium size and intermediate scope. This role assists with data collection, management, and analysis for research projects focused on education, health, housing, inequality, and racial, ethnic, and gender disparities, with direct impacts on policy and practice.

Responsibilities

• Clean, analyze, and manage research data.
• Engage in field research, including contacting study participants, conducting interviews, and reaching out to schools and community organizations to request administrative data.
• Transfer data from a variety of sources.
• Conduct literature reviews and summarize findings from journal articles.
• Enter research data into spreadsheets and systems.
• Prepare and review data for publication.
• Assist with grant applications and contribute to writing research progress reports.
• Perform general administrative tasks related to research projects.

Projects

The research assistant may work on:

• Evaluating educational investments that improve health outcomes for children.
• Field studies investigating the impact of nudges on physical activity.
• General behavioral/experimental economics or behavioral finance topics.
• Studies documenting and quantifying the distributional impact of policies related to housing and voting along racial and ethnic lines, including property tax policy and the Voting Rights Act.

Requirements

• Experience in social science data collection and data entry.
• Experience cleaning data, troubleshooting data problems, and analyzing social sciences data using Stata.
• Working skills in statistical analysis, systems programming, database design, and data security measures.
• Experience or college coursework in research design, data collection and processing, and data analysis.
• College coursework in social sciences research skills, data management, or basic experience collecting/analyzing data on a research or course project using Stata.
• Experience conducting thorough literature searches and summarizing reliable, scholarly source materials.
• Working knowledge of research functions and theoretical knowledge to analyze results and discern patterns or cause/effect relationships.
• Ability to stay up to date with changing research requirements.
• Experience compiling, cleaning, synthesizing, validating, and interpreting data and results.
• Experience conducting quality control actions.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and cooperatively.
• Excellent organizational, attention to detail, and time management skills.
• Prioritization skills and experience meeting deadlines in a productive environment.
• Skills to communicate complex information clearly and concisely, both verbally and in writing.
• Collaboration skills, tact, diplomacy, and ability to work with diverse groups.
• Ability to take direction, apply feedback, and work with different populations.
• Judgment to keep the team updated on progress or anticipated barriers.
• Meticulous record-keeping and administrative skills.
• Experience with Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Google Docs to produce reports, presentations, and track data.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Business, Finance, Social Sciences, or related field; or an equivalent combination of knowledge and experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience preparing data for grant applications or project summary reports for funding agencies.
• Previous education, interest, or experience in behavioral/experimental economics or behavioral finance topics (e.g., early education, educational investments improving health outcomes, field studies on behavioral reminders, distributional impacts of housing/voting policies).
• Interest in obtaining hands-on research experience prior to pursuing further graduate studies in economics, business, finance, or a related field.

Special Conditions

Job offer is contingent upon satisfactory clearance based on background check results.

Pay

$36.00/hour.

Schedule

Full-time (100%), Monday through Friday, 8 hours per day.