Research Assistant: Justice Policy & Data Analysis

Urban Institute; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 52,520 - 65,650; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

Health, dental, and vision insurance

Transit benefits

403(b) retirement plan

Educational assistance

Employee assistance programs

Job summary

The Urban Institute is a nonprofit research organization in Washington, DC, focused on evidence-based social and economic policy. We are seeking a Research Assistant for the Justice Policy Center to support research, evaluation, and technical assistance projects aimed at safer communities and a fair criminal legal system.

Responsibilities include literature reviews, data collection and analysis, and preparation of reports, briefs, and visuals.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or associate’s degree in public policy, criminology, sociology, economics, statistics, political science, psychology, public health, data science, or related field.
• Demonstrate interest in justice and public safety policy topics.
• Experience conducting quantitative and/or qualitative research through coursework, internships, or work.

Responsibilities

• Conduct literature reviews and background research on the criminal legal system, public safety, and justice topics.
• Collect, clean, manage, and analyze quantitative and/or qualitative data.
• Support data collection activities including surveys, interviews, focus groups, site visits, and administrative data projects.
• Assist with statistical analyses using Stata, R, Python, SAS, or other tools.
• Draft sections of reports, memos, presentations, and other dissemination products.
• Develop tables, figures, data visualizations, and descriptive summaries of findings.
• Participate in project meetings, support coordination, note-taking, and tracking deliverables.
• Contribute to proposal development, environmental scans, and business development activities.
• Support translation of findings for policymakers and practitioners.
• Collaborate across disciplines and project teams.

Skills

Research

Data analysis

Survey design

Communication

Teamwork

Organizational skills

Education

Bachelor's degree or associate's degree

Tools

Stata

R

Python

SAS

Job description

The Urban Institute is a nonprofit research organization in Washington, DC, focused on evidence-based social and economic policy. We are seeking a Research Assistant for the Justice Policy Center to support research, evaluation, and technical assistance projects aimed at safer communities and a fair criminal legal system.

Responsibilities include literature reviews, data collection and analysis, and preparation of reports, briefs, and visuals.