Join the Team

The Roper Center is currently seeking a research assistant to support the continued advancement of our world-renowned public opinion archive.

This position will report to the Data Archivist and project leads from the data team and will assist the data team in accurately inputting a variety of polling research results and documents into the Roper Center database and performing basic data cleaning functions, such as normalizing and recoding variables. Duties and responsibilities may vary and will be assigned based on experience, including:
• Perform data entry and data proofing tasks
• Organize work, collect and analyze data, keep records
• Make independent decisions as well as ask for clarification when necessary
• Review online and paper versions of relevant datasets
• Adhere to workflow process already in place
• Ensure that all online documentation is searchable
• Inventory the physical archive and other related tasks as requested
• Enhance datasets with data labels or recodes

Required Qualifications/Skills/Experience:

• Experience with data entry/analysis
• Conscientious attention to detail and accuracy
• Excellent interpersonal skills and independent problem solving abilities
• Good written and oral communication skills
• Basic computer skills
• Experience with a statistical software package such as Stata, SPSS, or R

Preferred experience:
• Prior research experience using data

The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Cornell University – the world’s largest public opinion data archive – has openings on a regular basis and is always interested in hearing from interested candidates. Inquiries should be emailed to mfr47@cornell.edu.

The Kohut Fellowship honors the memory of Andrew Kohut and his numerous contributions to the science and art of survey research.

Kohut Fellows will (1) engage in their own original public opinion-focused research project using data from the Roper Center archives; (2) publish a post on the Roper Center Blog that summarizes the research results and experience, (3) learn about the methods and techniques of survey research and other forms of public opinion research, analysis, and dissemination; (4) engage in conversation with leaders in the field of public opinion, and (5) devote roughly 10 hours a week on a Roper Center archive-related project(s) at a level appropriate to their abilities, training and educational goals.

The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Cornell University –
the world’s largest public opinion data archive – has one Graduate
Assistantship available for the 9-month, 2023-24 academic year.
Mitofsky Fellows will: (1) receive a full year of PhD funding, including
tuition, stipend and healthcare; (2) focus on preparing and processing
archived data and assist with preparing new data, including: cleaning
and harmonizing data; writing syntax to read and translate ASCII data
files; performing basic statistical analyses; proofreading data labels;
and participating in other archive-related projects.

The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research is currently seeking a part-time graduate student to assist with the development of educational materials. This position will work directly with the data team and will play an important role in increasing the use of the Roper Center in introductory college courses and improving understanding of public opinion polling among both faculty and students.

Duties include:
• Identification of archival materials suited to use in introductory early and college-level courses
• Research existing introductory materials available for educators on topics related to the archive’s holdings, such as statistics, government, history, or survey research methods
• Design and develop digital media assets to enhance instruction based on Roper Center archival materials and support for the attainment of relevant learning outcomes for inclusion in introductory early-college and college-level curricula, including a sample syllabus, classroom exercises, methodology reviews, etc.