Job Title: Research Professional – Anne Karing and Rachel Glennerster (Full-Time, Benefits Eligible)

Location: Chicago, IL – Hyde Park Campus, Saieh Hall

Expected Start Date: July 1, 2024

Please direct questions to bfipredoc@uchicago.edu.

Job Summary

Reporting to Professors Anne Karing and Rachel Glennerster, and Postdoctoral Scholar Samantha Horn the Research Professional will assist with development and behavioral economics research projects in health. Their research focuses on studying the economics of health delivery and behaviors in low-income countries, and evaluates the impact of policies and interventions that increase preventative health-seeking behaviors. It uses a combination of methods including field experiments, lab-in-the-field experiments, and quasi-experiments, using both survey and administrative data.

The Research Professional will primarily conduct statistical analyses and draft reports and presentations of research findings. They might also contribute to the design and implementation of field experiments. The project the Research Professional will primarily work on is an experiment designed to evaluate the efficacy of two approaches to tackling health misinformation in Freetown, Sierra Leone: i) a training to identify misinformation; and ii) a training on vaccine literacy. The RP will be tasked with cleaning data captured from participants’ WhatsApp messaging and analyzing the effects of the interventions on participants' information sharing behavior on WhatsApp. They will be responsible for liaising with the team based in Sierra Leone to correct and interpret data, discussing the results of analyses with the PI team, and supporting the PI team in publishing the findings from the study.

The ideal candidate is someone with a strong interest in furthering their applied econometrics and economic skills, and who is passionate about development economics and/or health or social media topics. The Research Professional will be part of the vibrant research environment of the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics at The University of Chicago.

BFI's Predoctoral Research in Economics Program (PREP) is intended to serve as a bridge between college and graduate school for students interested in empirical economics. Applicants must have completed a Bachelor's degree by June 2024 and have strong quantitative and programming skills. Candidates with research experience are strongly preferred, especially those with experience in Stata, R, Python or Matlab.

Responsibilities:

Data cleaning and analysis.
Writes or finalizes replicable do files or scripts for publication.
Ensures compliance of research activities with institutional, state, and federal regulatory policies, procedures, directives, and mandates. Analyzes possible solutions using standard procedures.
Assists with writing data analysis plans and contributes to preparing study registration documents.
Supports the implementation of field experiments including supporting the design and implementation of surveys, and monitoring the quality of data collected, when needed.
Supports with writing of grant and policy reports, and assists with drafting presentations of research findings.
Analyzes and maintains data and/or specimens. Conducts literature reviews. Assists with preparation of reports, manuscripts and other documents.
Maintains technical and administrative support for a research project.
Performs other related work as needed.

Preferred Qualifications:

Education

A Bachelor's or Master’s degree in economics, public policy, or a related field by start date.
Took econometrics classes at the bachelor or master’s level.

Experience

Experience working as a Research Assistant or Data Analyst preferred.
Experience analyzing large data sets, applying econometrics methods.
Experience with natural language processing and knowledge of Python is strongly preferred.
Familiarity with field experiments.
Experience using machine learning techniques in data analysis is preferred.

Preferred Competencies:

Strong interest in development economics and/or behavioral economics.
The ideal candidate will be a self-starter who thrives working both independently, with minimal supervision, and as a part of small research teams, participating in multiple projects concurrently.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce clear and compelling written materials geared towards technical and non-technical audiences.
Ability to prioritize effectively to meet tight deadlines in a fast-paced working environment.
Excellent organizational skills and high attention to detail.

Technical Skills:

Knowledge of statistical analysis packages such as Python (preferred), R, or Stata.

Required Documents:

Resume/CV (required)
Transcripts (required)
Writing sample (optional)
Math SAT/ACT (optional)

About the Unit:

The Becker Friedman Institute for Economics (BFI) works with the Chicago Economics community to turn its evidence-based research into real-world impact. BFI takes a unique approach to bridging the divide between academic researchers and decision-makers in the business community and government by translating and packaging the rigorous work of the Chicago Economics community into accessible formats, and proactively sharing those findings with relevant decision-makers and thought leaders around the globe. BFI is a collaborative platform serving the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics, the Harris School of Public Policy, and the Law School. For more information visit https://bfi.uchicago.edu and https://bfi.uchicago.edu/info-for/prep .

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