Princeton University

Position Title/Short Description

Full Text of JOE Listing:

The Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University has an opening for a research specialist to assist the Director of the Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance, Helen V. Milner, in conducting research on the political economy of international economic policy, globalization, development, and technological change. The Research Specialist will conduct research on a variety of topics, as assigned by faculty. He/she will locate and compile statistical data, edit data for accuracy and completeness, run statistical analyses, collect and review academic literatures, maintain faculty website, proofread research, replicate statistical analyses, and perform other duties as assigned.

The candidate should be well organized, flexible, attentive to detail, and able to respond to deadlines in a timely fashion. Knowledge about and interest in the topics are important as well since the position requires reading studies, gathering information and data, analyzing them, and then providing some summaries.

Duties & Responsibilities:
Provide statistical consulting and programming assistance to faculty member who is the director of NCGG and at times to WWS and NCGG faculty members, associated faculty members with the Department of Economics and Politics, as well as NCGG associated fellows and students. This requires advanced knowledge of statistics and quantitative methods and specialized computer skills, such as experience using specialized software (e.g. Stata) and programming languages (e.g. R, Python). This includes creating datasets and the management and empirical analysis of economic and political data. It also includes programming field experiments and surveys in programs such as Qualtrics.
Provide logistical and technical support to director, faculty and fellows with survey and field experiments. This requires advanced knowledge of research design and experience conducting field experiments. Also, assist faculty members in the management and empirical analysis of economic and political data.
Conduct literature reviews on topics of interest to faculty member and maintain database of citations. Also, maintain faculty member's website and proofread papers.
Create analytic datasets; perform complex statistical analyses of data, using advanced econometric and other statistical methods.
Contribute to the design and building of research presentations in PowerPoint or Beamer.
Participate in NCGG programs, including seminars, luncheons, public events and conferences, as well as assist graduate and undergraduate students on occasion.

Formal Education: (minimal level required for this position)
Masters or Professional degree (M.B.A., J.D., etc.)

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
Minimum advanced degree (Masters or PhD) preferred, in a social science discipline such as Economics, Political Science, etc.
• Strong computing skills, including programming in Stata and R and experience in compiling, managing, and manipulating large data sets are essential; knowledge of ArcGIS and Python are also desirable.
• Knowledge of statistics and econometrics is essential;
• Strong research and analytical skills are necessary;
• Knowledge of standard Internet tools and HTML is necessary;
• Knowledge of Qualitative Case Study Methods.

Additional Qualifications:
Familiarity with standard political science or international economics related literatures and data sources is important.
• Familiarity with standard international trade, finance, and development datasets;
• Extensive experience working with large databases, specifically cleaning, merging, and analyzing panel data;
• A self-starter with the drive to learn new software programs and research methodologies;
• Foreign language skills is a plus.