Research Assistant - Calnitsky

at  Western University

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ABOUT US

The Department of Sociology at Western offers undergraduate, Masters, and PhD degrees in Sociology. Our faculty members are excellent researchers, award-winning teachers, and engage with policymakers and leaders in the private, public, and non-profit sectors. Our undergraduate and graduate programs focus on the department’s core strengths: Health and the Life Course; Power and Justice; Social Demography and Migration; and Work and the Economy.

Education:

• Master’s degree in a relevant discipline; PhD (or being a PhD candidate) in a relevant discipline preferre

Experience:

• 3 year’s working experience in a related academic research environmen

Skills, Abilities & Expertise:

• Detail-oriented with an ability to function and process information with high levels of accuracy
• Ability to employ a systematic and efficient approach to work
• Personable and courteous in working relationships with colleagues, students and the public
• Ability to collect and analyze data in an objective manner
• Familiarity with regulations and guidelines governing research
• Familiarity with methods for research design, implementation, and analysis
• Familiarity with experimental design and analysis
• Computer skills with the ability to learn and use software programs
• Intermediate computer skills in Microsoft Office Suite
• Ability to work independently and effectively as a member of the team to achieve department goals
• Verbal and written communication skills with the ability to document technical informatio

Dr. David Calnitsky is looking for a research assistant to help with his research project. The Research
Assistant (RA) will have familiarity with quantitative data analysis in Stata, especially (1) the merging
of datasets, (2) graphical presentation of evidence, and (3) Stata programming skills to, for example,
pull regression results to be used in graphs or produce multiple graphs at once. In particular, the RA
will be responsible for downloading, cleaning, and merging data into large datasets. This project
provides an opportunity for an RA to familiarize themselves with multiple sources of cross-national
data (World Values Survey, OECD Social Spending dataset, CEPALSTAT, the Varieties of
Democracy dataset, the ISSP Work Orientations survey, the Database of Political Institutions, Cross-
National Time-Series Data Archive, Comparative Welfare States dataset) and pooled time series data
analysis. Although the RA may not dive deeply into any one dataset, they will familiarize themselves
with the whole gamut of available international time series data on political, economic, and social
topics.
Additional skills would include the following: broad knowledge of cross-national time-series data
analysis, an understanding of the history of welfare states and social democracy in OECD countries,
familiarity with instrumental variables analysis, writing/editing skills.
Qualifications

Education:

• Master’s degree in a relevant discipline; PhD (or being a PhD candidate) in a relevant discipline preferred

Experience:

• 3 year’s working experience in a related academic research environment

Skills, Abilities & Expertise:

• Detail-oriented with an ability to function and process information with high levels of accuracy
• Ability to employ a systematic and efficient approach to work
• Personable and courteous in working relationships with colleagues, students and the public
• Ability to collect and analyze data in an objective manner
• Familiarity with regulations and guidelines governing research
• Familiarity with methods for research design, implementation, and analysis
• Familiarity with experimental design and analysis
• Computer skills with the ability to learn and use software programs
• Intermediate computer skills in Microsoft Office Suite
• Ability to work independently and effectively as a member of the team to achieve department goals
• Verbal and written communication skills with the ability to document technical information