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SalaryNORC at the University of Chicago seeks a qualified Research Associate I to join its Public Affairs and Media Research Department in our Bethesda, MD or Chicago, IL office. NORC’s Public Affairs & Media Research department provides data-driven insights for top media, consulting, policymaking, and philanthropic organizations.
The Research Associate I is responsible for providing general support on research projects. The ideal candidate will possess a broad interest in public opinion research and communicating key findings for various audiences. The successful candidate will provide general research support and contribute to each facet of the research process from providing proposal support, to conducting background research, testing instruments, cleaning data, conducting analysis, and supporting reporting activities.
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 with a wide array of important issues and a broad 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.
- Provide general research support on quantitative and qualitative projects.
- Prepare background research including literature reviews and environmental scans on key topics.
- Test data collection instruments and systems.
- Assist with data preparation, data cleaning, and coding.
- Conduct statistical analyses of survey data for research reports or ad-hoc as needed.
- Contribute to the preparation of reports, tables, and graphs based on findings.
- Assist with tasks related to business development such as providing proposal support.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
- Bachelor's degree in political science, psychology, communications, survey methodology, or other social science discipline required.
- Outstanding interpersonal, critical reasoning, analytic, and writing skills.
- Strong problem-solving capabilities.
- Demonstrated attentiveness to detailed tasks, strong organizational skills, ability to meet requirements of multiple projects simultaneously, and ability to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a team.
- Experience with conducting data analysis using standard statistical software packages (e.g. Stata, SAS, and/or R) is preferred.
- Proficiency with Microsoft 365 applications, including MS Teams.
- Qualified applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S. We regret that we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this position.
The pay range for this position is $55,000 - $62,000. The budgeted range for this role is: $55,000 – $58,000.
This position is classified as regular. Regular staff are eligible for NORC’s comprehensive benefits program. Benefits include, but are not limited to:
- Generously subsidized health insurance, effective on the first day of employment
- Dental and vision insurance
- A defined contribution retirement program, along with a separate voluntary 403(b) retirement program
- Group life insurance, long-term and short-term disability insurance
- Benefits that promote work/life balance, including generous paid time off, holidays; paid parental leave, bereavement leave, tuition assistance, and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
NORC’s Approach to Equity and Transparency
Pay and benefits transparency helps to reduce wage gaps. As part of our commitment to pay equity and salary transparency, NORC includes a salary range for each job opening along with information about eligible benefit offerings. At NORC, we take a comprehensive approach to setting salary ranges and reviewing raises and promotions, which is overseen by a formal Salary Review Committee (SRC).
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 75 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 affirmative action, equal opportunity employer that values and actively seeks diversity in the workforce. NORC evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other legally- protected characteristics.
