Research Assistant (Department of Sociology)

We are seeking a Research Assistant who will complete a range of tasks in support of the PIRL lab in the Department of Sociology. Previous research topics have included the trajectories of community college students, housing policies to increase neighborhood quality, the responses of high-achieving low-income students to financial aid, and race trends in economic mobility. Work is done using multiple social scientific methods, often in conjunction, including qualitative data collection and analysis via semi-structured interviews, structural micro-econometric modeling and estimation, and statistical analysis of large-scale administrative data, among other approaches. This position will include a variety of tasks that provide preparation for graduate school, such as analyzing data, developing statistical models, creating presentations, and editing research papers. The position will begin in the summer or fall of 2026 and could last up to 2 years.

The Research Assistant will oversee data collection, data organization, and/or data management or similar functions/tasks for research study(ies) in support of a PI or a research team.

Specific Duties & Responsibilities

• Run routine and ad hoc reports.
• Use standard tools and computer programs to review data.
• Assist with data cleaning measures to ensure accuracy of data and preparation of tables.
• Lead basic activities such as data collection and data entry.
• May lead specific tasks and develop processes to ensure study activities occur effectively and efficiently.
• May conduct literature searches to support faculty in research efforts.
• May design and format papers/publications.
• May assist PIs in writing summaries of papers for release as policy briefs or other channels.
• Other duties as assigned.
  
  

In addition to the duties described above

• Closely collaborate with Professors DeLuca and Papageorge on cross-disciplinary, methodologically broad, policy-relevant, empirical social scientific research related primarily to poverty, inequality, race, education, labor and housing. For recent examples of their work, see https://otheramerica.org/ and https://nicholaswpapageorge.com/
• Conduct fieldwork and analyze data.
• Participate in weekly research group meetings.
• Prepare mandatory reports and documents/protocols.
  
  

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in a related field.
• Additional education may substitute for required experience and additional related experience may substitute for required education beyond a high school diploma/graduation equivalent, to the extent permitted by the JHU equivalency formula.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s (or equivalent) preferred.
• Interest in pursuing a Ph.D. in Economics, Sociology or Public Policy.
• Interests in either Economics (especially applied microeconomics, structural methods and decision-making) or Sociology (especially urban sociology, sociology of education, social stratification) or both (preferred).
• A strong quantitative background, experience with programming (ideally in statistical programming languages) and/or working with micro-level data and/or a strong background conducting qualitative research, including experience with in-depth interviews, ethnographic observation and analytic software (such as MAXQDA, NVivoor Atlas.ti).
  
  

Classified Title: Research Assistant

Role/Level/Range: ACRO40/E/03/CD

Starting Salary Range: $17.20 - $30.30 HRLY (Commensurate w/exp.)

Employee group: Full Time

Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:30am - 5:00pm

FLSA Status: Non-Exempt

Location: Homewood Campus

Department name: Sociology

Personnel area: School of Arts & Sciences