Evaluation and Applied Research Associate

Duke University:

 

Duke University was created in 1924 through an indenture of trust by James Buchanan Duke. Today, Duke is regarded as one of America’s leading research universities. Located in Durham, North Carolina, Duke is positioned in the heart of the Research Triangle, which is ranked annually as one of the best places in the country to work and live. Duke has more than 15,000 students who study and conduct research in its 10 undergraduate, graduate and professional schools. With about 40,000 employees, Duke is the third largest private employer in North Carolina, and it now has international programs in more than 150 countries.

 

 

Evaluation and Applied Research Associate
 

Social Science Research Institute, Applied Research, Evaluation, and Engagement

 

Work Setting:

 

The Duke Social Science Research Institute (SSRI), and particular the Applied Research, Evaluation, and Engagement team, provides applied research and evaluation partnership and learning opportunities to meet an increasing demand for applied research and evaluation at the university and in the broader community. We partner with Duke University, Duke Health, and community entities to better understand program/intervention outcomes and improve program/intervention processes. We foster these partnerships through various means, including serving directly as an evaluation and research partner for external entities, integrating evaluation into research projects, and prompting Duke/community connection through applied research and evaluation. Our areas of focus are intentionally interdisciplinary, but we tend to focus on the areas of education and human development, health/healthcare, social inequality, and innovation/pilot programming. We are also partnered with the Clinical and Translational Science Institute in the formation and operation of the Duke Office of Evaluation and Applied Research Partnership. 

 

Position Summary & Qualifications:

 

We are seeking an Evaluation and Applied Research Associate to join the Duke Social Science Research Institute (SSRI). This position would join an existing team and focus on applied research and evaluation across varied content areas, including health, education and human development, and social inequalities. 

 

This position would perform a variety of complex and independent activities involved in applied research and evaluation. This could include development of theory of change modeling (e.g., using a logic model); evaluation/research study design development; the collection, analysis, documentation and interpretation of social, educational, and health-related data; analysis and reporting of data and findings. This role will involve management of evaluation projects, including project and timeline planning and IRB needs as relevant. At present, this role would have particular focus on qualitative data collection and analysis with a substantive focus on healthcare initiatives, though this (including the substantive focus area in particular) could potentially shift based on incoming team member interests.

 

This role may involve supervision of students and/or others in a research assistant role.

 

The desired candidate will have:

•    Demonstrated evaluation and/or social science research skills, overall.
•    Ability to develop an evaluation/research study design.
•    Methodological qualitative experience, including focus group and interview data collection and analysis experience. Methodological experience should include both conceptual and technical abilities. This would ideally include experience with qualitative analysis software (e.g., NVivo or others). 
•    Additional quantitative skills (e.g., survey design, familiarity with platforms such as Qualtrics) are desired but not required.
•    Experience in synthesizing and sharing results to inform others’ learning, action, and decision-making.
•    Strong management and organizational skills.
•    A flexible and proactive planning mentality.
•    Ability to successfully as part of a team and independently. 
•    A commitment to ethical and equitable evaluation and research processes.

 

Preferred/ Desired Qualifications:

 

A candidate must have a Masters degree at minimum. We would be glad to consider a candidate with a PhD who has interest in applied research and evaluation. We are open across disciplines but see the closest fit for an application with some training in the social sciences.

 

Minimum Qualifications

 

Education

Work requires a Bachelor's degree in a field related to the specific position. A Master's degree is strongly preferred.

 

Experience

 

Work requires four