Job Opportunity for Research Assistant
Brazelton Touchpoints Center Evaluation Team
Research Assistant Job Description
Position Overview
Brazelton Touchpoints Center (BTC) was founded in 1996 by T. Berry Brazelton, MD, and colleagues and is based in the Division of Developmental Medicine (DDM) at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH), a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital. Together with families, providers and communities, BTC develops and applies knowledge of early childhood development to practice and policy through professional and organizational development, evaluation, advocacy and awareness, and serves as a resource for proven practices. BTC is also home to the Office of Head Start and Office of Child Care National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement. Learn more about BTC at www.brazeltontouchpoints.org.
Brazelton Touchpoints Center’s Research and Evaluation team seeks a Research Assistant with passionate commitment to its mission to support key aspects of evaluation projects including: study design and execution, and writing and presentations of findings. Preference will be given to applicants with strong interest in and experience with database management, review of literature, and copy editing.
Among the primary responsibilities of the Research Assistant will be will be assisting with daily operations of studies, tracking study data and forms, developing databases and supporting data collection processes, and assisting with the production and dissemination of research and evaluation materials, reports, and other appropriate product materials. The Research Assistant will report to the Director of Research Operations.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities
1. Assists with daily operations of research studies.
2. Creates and implements systems and procedures to ensure accuracy and consistency of data. Responsible for maintaining systems for data management, collection, tracking, and entry from diverse sources.
3. Applies professional principles in performing qualitative and quantitative analyses from surveys and other data collection instruments. Develops codebooks, prepares datasets, and analyzes data using a variety of statistical packages.
4. Conducts literature searches and organizes findings to support the development of products for dissemination, including: statistical reports and analytical summaries for internal review and/or external distribution, evaluation and research reports for funders and participants, articles for journal publication, web-based materials, posters and presentations for scientific conferences, and new applications for research funding.
5. Interacts with research partners as directed/required by the protocol and/or study team.
6. Provides general administrative support to the research and evaluation team (e.g., electronic file organization, shared drive organization, formatting project documents, general project communications/calendar).
7. Coordinates and prepares the necessary documentation for Institutional Review Board (IRB), together with the Principal Investigator of the study.
Required and Preferred Knowledge and Skills
1. Bachelor's degree in Psychology, Child Development, Early Childhood Education, Special Education, Public Health, or a closely related field plus previous professional experience in the areas of research, data management, and data analysis.
2. Demonstrates strong attention to detail with well-developed analytical, communication, organizational, and writing skills.
3. Some quantitative analysis skills in programs like SPSS, Stata, and/or R preferred.
4. Some qualitative analysis skills in programs like ATLAS-ti preferred.
5. Experience with citation tools like Mendeley, EndNote, and RefWorks preferred.
6. Knowledge of screenings and assessments for children and families.
7. Interest in applied research with children, families, and training and technical assistance programs.
8. Experience working with diverse populations, experience with tribal communities preferred.
9. Ability to work independently.
10. Ability to travel.
11. Proficiency in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
12. Authorization to work in the United States.
Contact Information
Please send Cover Letter and Resume/CV to Jordan Manchester, Director of Research and Evaluation, Jordan.Manchester@childrens.harvard.edu.
Boston Children’s Hospital offers competitive compensation and benefits, affordable health, vision and dental insurance, 403(b) Retirement Savings plan, Pension, Tuition Reimbursement, cell phone plan discounts and discounted rates on T-passes (50% off).
Boston Children’s Hospital is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status or disability.
Status: Full Time
Shift: Day
Schedule: Mon-Fri
Standard Hours per Week: 40
Location: Boston, MA