Social Science Research Assistants
Graduate Research Assistant, Research Assistant, Research Associate, Social Research Assistant
What they do:
Assist social scientists in laboratory, survey, and other social science research. May help prepare findings for publication and assist in laboratory analysis, quality control, or data management.
On the job, you would:
- Design and create special programs for tasks such as statistical analysis and data entry and cleaning.
- Provide assistance with the preparation of project-related reports, manuscripts, and presentations.
- Prepare tables, graphs, fact sheets, and written reports summarizing research results.
Knowledge
Arts and Humanities
- English language
Engineering and Technology
- computers and electronics
Business
- administrative services
- customer service
Math and Science
- arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics
Skills
Basic Skills
- reading work related information
- listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
Problem Solving
- noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it
People and Technology Systems
- thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
- figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it
Abilities
Verbal
- communicate by speaking
- listen and understand what people say
Ideas and Logic
- order or arrange things
- use rules to solve problems
Math
- choose the right type of math to solve a problem
- add, subtract, multiply, or divide
Personality
People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.
They do well at jobs that need:
- Dependability
- Cooperation
- Attention to Detail
- Independence
- Adaptability/Flexibility
- Integrity
Technology
You might use software like this on the job:
Object or component oriented development software
- Perl
- R
Computer based training software
- Appletree
Analytical or scientific software
- IBM SPSS Statistics
- The MathWorks MATLAB
Education
Education: (rated 4 of 5)
bachelor's degree or
master's degree
usually needed
master's degree
usually needed
Get started on your career:
Find Training
Apprenticeship.gov
Job Outlook
Bright
New job opportunities are very likely in the future.
Explore More
You might like a career in one of these industries:
See more details at O*NET OnLine about social science research assistants.