Research Specialist II

Overview

The Department of Sociology at Princeton University seeks applicants for full-time post-baccalaureate research assistant positions in the Eviction Lab. Successful candidates will have a background in quantitative social science, economics, statistics, data science, and/or computer science.

The Eviction Lab at Princeton University is an interdisciplinary research team who has built the first-ever national database of evictions in America. We have validated, mapped, and published our data through an interactive website (evictionlab.org). The Eviction Lab is currently working on a large number of studies on the prevalence, causes, and consequences of housing displacement. Research assistants will have access to novel and very large datasets not publicly released.

We seek self-driven, creative thinkers with strong quantitative skills to assist with research analysis and publication of research findings on housing instability, urban inequality, and public policy. Successful candidates must have previous experience managing and analyzing quantitative data using sophisticated statistical or computer programming techniques. Proficiency in R is required. Previous experience with Python, ArcGIS, web scraping, accessing data through APIs, advanced data visualization, managing large datasets, or working with administrative data is a plus. Previous coursework in sociology, urban studies, or housing instability is not required but useful.

This is a one-year term, benefits eligible position. Interested candidates should submit a cover letter and resume with their application.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities include:

• Data collection, including outreach to courts and municipalities to request data, initiating Freedom of Information Act Requests, and other related tasks.
• Preparing data for use in the Eviction Lab's database or for related Eviction Lab projects. This includes activities like cleaning data in R, writing code, reformatting files, validating data.
• Tasks related to academic and other publications. These may include library research, collaborating with other Eviction Lab team members on research questions, producing data visualizations, or conducting statistical analyses.
• Attending and contributing to team meetings, collaborating with Eviction Lab undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers. Responding to queries from other researchers and members of the public.

Qualifications

Essential Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent
• 3+ years relevant experience
• Experience managing and analyzing quantitative data using sophisticated statistical or computer programming techniques
• Proficiency in R or Stata
• Ability to apply rigorous data analysis techniques to real-world problems.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Python, ArcGIS, web scraping, accessing data through APIs, advanced data visualization, managing large datasets, or working with administrative data.
• Previous coursework in sociology, urban studies, or housing instability.