Research Associate

Qualifications and Skills

Language and Communication: The candidate should at least high very high level of comprehension of text, material and communication in English even if written and spoken abilities in English are modest. The candidate should be able to explain concepts, procedures, ideas clearly without confusing the listener. Ability to write in clear and concise manner in Word (we dont expect native proficiency in English, but basic grammar and spellings should be proper). Education: Masters degree in economics, population sciences, demography or statistics (or similar with high focus and intensive coursework in mathematics, statistics, econometrics, biostats etc).

Technical Capabilities

: The following skills are highly desirable (except those which are noted as optional). We understand that some candidates may be exceptionally strong in a subset of skills but not in others. As long as you have basic understanding and ability/commitment to learn these skills in first 6 months on the job, you are welcome to apply. The only skillset we cannot compromise is related to STATA. o Reasonable knowledge and experience of designing questionnaires for social research o Basic knowledge of Open Data Kit based CAPI systems (any one of ODK, SurveyCTO, ONA, Kobo etc) o Proficient and well experienced in using STATA for Survey data processing and cleaning (removing duplicates, merging, outliers, reshaping, variable creation, labelling, etc) Data analysis creating indicators, customized tabulation of data as per the templates developed, survey data analysis using weights, basic bivariate and multivariate statistical tests Data visualization (various types of graphs) Ability to write DO files for analysis instead of using menu-driven options in STATA, ability to export results of analysis to Word / Excel from STATA instead of copy-paste o Strong Excel skills (pivot tables and charts with slicer, solvers, statistical functions, etc. Optional and a significant plus - VBA macro, Database Connections and Power Query) o Other optional and a significant plus skillsets Skills in statistical software other than STATA such as SPSS and R Skills in programming languages using in data analytics (Python, Java, JavaScript) Skills in setting and managing Amazon EC2 cloud-based servers and computers for data analytics Skills in Power-BI, Google Studio, Tableau Experience: 1-3 years of relevant experience with social survey research projects with role that included, review/assessment of performance of enumerators (based on data but field visits can be a part of it), data QAQC during the field work using STATA, data analysis, tabulation and visualization. We prefer candidates who have done analysis using large and complex sample such as NFHS. Soft skills: An analytical mind with great attention to details and process, high level of careful work and least error prone, good time manager who is task oriented, ability to lean-unlearn-relearn software packages esp those related to statistical analysis, must love data, passionate about smart work using technology tools, able to delegate work and mentor junior data analysts, mindset to accept feedback constructively and lead by example. Job and Responsibilities Areas of Responsibility Indicative Activities Questionnaire and CAPI review for Quality Assurance Participate in review of questionnaires from perspective of data quality issues and analysis - logic, easechallenges in constructing indicators, questions that can result in illogical-ambiguous-unreliable data. Thorough checking of pilot / training data to ensure that there are no inadvertent skips, illogical questions being asked, outliers, incorrectly coding Other-Specify instead of pre-existing option in the MCQs, etc. Data Quality Assurance During Data Capture / Field Surveys Contribute to developing a comprehensive data quality plan under direction of Sr Specialists and researchers, Develop DO files in STATA, integration with Excel, Google Studio, Power BI etc so that most of the data QAQC work can be automated for a survey. Design the templates for reporting quality issues (field status gap , data quality tables etc) and share with field team for action. Conduct high frequency checks on the data received as per the devised plans, review the data quality tables (reliability, enumerator performance, outliers, duplicates, merging issues, discrepancy between field status and actual data on server), communication between data and field team, debrief field team to ensure they are getting feedback in a proper format they find useful and can fix. Conduct periodic checks for missing data, outliers, illogical data by reviewing data collected and coming up with instructions / feedback for the field teams. Data processing and Delivery Update and maintain repository of the final survey questionnaires, raw data, and cleaned/processed data AND maintain DO files so that everything is well documented and replicable Ensure that datasets for delivery which are internally consistent, multiple datasets merge with each other properly (if applicable), survey weights (design weights) are included with the final files. Data Analysis, Tabulation and Graphics Contribute to developing data analysis plan in collaboration with Senior researchers, consultant &/or clients including which bivariate or multivariate models/tests to be conducted, descriptive analysis and presentation of data, assumption to make, need to use secondary data, template for tables, charts, graphs in which results should be presented Conduct data analysis as per above plan in STATA and ensure all steps are documented as in DO file. We expect least amount of manual work so STATA code should be able to produce graphs and tables the way we expect to see in the Word/Excel report to the extent possible so that in Word only formatting and cosmetic job is left Develop Word/Excel templates or VBA Macros which will help in formatting results exported by STATA in most error-less and efficient manner. For simple and basic survey studies, set up Excel / Power-BI / Google Studio files for data visualization (cross tabs, graphs etc) or conduct analysis in Excel Capability Development Stay abreast with available software, their updates, new software for Data Analytics, Visualization, MIS, and all allied functionalities. Look for and critically evaluate alternatives for our usual systems because technology constantly evolves, and we cannot stay satisfied with only one technology for long Experiment and develop real-time integration between data collection and data visualization using tools such as google studio, power BI, python, power flow App