Part-time Undergraduate Research Assistant supporting Public Affairs Media and Research – Hybrid Chicago Loop Office

NORC at the University of Chicago seeks a qualified part-time Undergraduate Research Assistant to support its Public Affairs and Media Research Department in our Chicago Loop office. NORC’s Public Affairs & Media Research department provides data-driven insights for top media, policymaking, and philanthropic organizations.

The undergraduate Research Assistant is responsible for providing general support on research projects, including NORC’s Civic Health & Election Project, which provides an understanding of the electorate’s experiences, attitudes, and policy priorities across all 50 states. The ideal candidate is curious, detail‑oriented, and possesses a strong understanding of social science research concepts. The successful candidate will provide general research support and contribute to various facets of the research process from conducting background research, testing survey instruments, cleaning data, fact checking, and supporting reporting activities.

This role requires you to be a current undergraduate student available to work in a hybrid office setting 16-24 hours per week, including at least one day per week at NORC’s office in the Chicago Loop. This position is expected to begin in mid-July, and candidates must be available to work through mid-November with the possibility for the role to be extended beyond that time.

All eligible students are encouraged to apply; however, preference may be given to University of Chicago students due NORC’s campus employment designation.

Work Authorization: Visa-dependent applicants must be enrolled at the University of Chicago, as this position qualifies as on-campus employment for work-authorization purposes. NORC is unable to provide additional work-authorization sponsorship for student roles.

Location: This is a hybrid role based in our Chicago Loop office, with a minimum of one day per week in the office.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND MEDIA RESEARCH             

The rapid changes in our society necessitate swift and reliable research into people’s beliefs and behaviors. The Public Affairs and Media Research Department conducts high-quality research in order to deliver reliable insights that fuel effective business and communication strategies for our clients in the U.S. and around the world. We provide the nuanced understanding of people’s opinions, beliefs, and behaviors that organizations need to understand and serve their audiences in a world of vast and accelerating change.

The Public Affairs and Media Research Department team has expertise across a wide array of important issues, including news consumption, social media, elections, food insecurity, and outdoor recreation, as well as experience working with a diverse range of populations, including hard-to-reach groups such as young people and Latinos. The department is also home to The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The AP-NORC Center was created to join the expertise of NORC, one of the world’s premier independent research organizations, with The AP, which provides news seen every day over all media platforms and formats by more than half of the world’s population. This combination of rigorous, objective research and reliable, unbiased journalism has unmatched potential to reach both broad audiences and policy makers at every governmental level, creating a seamless transition from the gathering of survey-based information to a more fully-informed society.

Through The AP-NORC Center and our relationships with other leading news and media organizations, we work with our clients to position research findings for the journalists, policymakers, and thought leaders who can amplify their impact.

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• Provide general research support on quantitative and qualitative projects on a range of topics.
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• Prepare background research including literature reviews and environmental scans.
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• Test data collection instruments and systems.
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• Assist with data preparation, data cleaning, and coding.
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• Conduct statistical analyses of survey data for research reports or ad-hoc as needed.
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• Contribute to the preparation of reports, tables, and graphs based on survey findings.
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• Conduct quality control tasks including fact checking.
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• Perform other duties as assigned. 
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• Enrolled full-time in an undergraduate program in a relevant field including—but not limited to—political science, sociology, public policy, statistics, survey methodology, or other social science discipline.
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• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 applications, including MS Teams.
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• Experience or willingness to learn new computer skills and computer-based data analysis (e.g. Stata, SAS, and/or R).
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• Outstanding interpersonal, critical reasoning, analytic, and writing skills.
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• Demonstrated attentiveness to detailed tasks, strong organizational skills, and ability to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a team.
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• Strong problem-solving capabilities.
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• Upper-level coursework in relevant fields preferred.
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• Interest in election polling preferred.
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The pay for this position is $20/hour. 

This position is classified as intermittent. Intermittent staff are eligible to participate in NORC’s retirement program. NORC contributes directly to this account without any required employee contributions.  In addition, intermittent staff are eligible to make pre-tax or post-tax contributions as part of NORC’s Supplemental Retirement Plan. Intermittent staff who meet tenure requirements are eligible for three days of holiday pay. All staff at NORC, along with their significant others and dependent children who live at home, can receive free counseling and referrals through NORC’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP).   

NORC at the University of Chicago is an objective, non-partisan research institution that delivers reliable data and rigorous analysis to guide critical programmatic, business, and policy decisions. Since 1941, our teams have conducted groundbreaking studies, created and applied innovative methods and tools, and advanced principles of scientific integrity and collaboration. Today, government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world partner with us to transform increasingly complex information into useful knowledge.

For over 80 years, NORC has evolved in many ways, moving the needle with research methods, technical applications and groundbreaking research findings. But our tradition of excellence, passion for innovation, and commitment to collegiality have remained constant components of who we are as a brand, and who each of us is as a member of the NORC team. With world-class benefits, a business casual environment, and an emphasis on continuous learning, NORC is a place where people join for the stellar research and analysis work for which we’re known, and stay for the relationships they form with their colleagues who take pride in the impact their work is making on a global scale.

NORC is an equal opportunity employer. NORC evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, sexual orientation, and other legally protected characteristics.

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