Research Assistant (Office for Research) [NIE]

The National Institute of Education invites suitable applications for the position of Research Assistant on a 9-month contract at the Office for Research (OfR).

Project Title: DRivers, Enablers and pathways of Adolescent developMent in Singapore (DREAMS): The Singapore Longitudinal Cohort Study (SG-LCS) Phase 1B

Project Introduction:

Objectives: This study seeks primarily to understand (a) the nature of educational pathways made by students through secondary education, (b) the drivers of the decisions made about educational pathways through secondary education (especially self-identity and agency, school and career aspirations, and social and relational contexts), (c) the stability and change patterns of educational pathways as well as factors that may be associated with change. We expect the drivers of educational pathways to be interrelated, and (d) through retrospective investigation, the factors at early childhood and primary school that contribute to educational pathways. Furthermore, this study will allow focus on educational pathways of specific subgroups to understand the differential impact of educational pathways for (e) students with special educational needs (SEN) and (f) for students from financially disadvantaged environments.

Method: This study employs a mixed longitudinal design where a representative sample of 9,000 participants are recruited when they are in Secondary 1 and follow-up yearly until they complete their secondary education in Secondary 4 or 5. All will participate in the main survey study, but others will participate in sub studies that might involve other approaches such as more surveys, direct observations of behavior (e.g., testing), interviews, and/or surveys with their classmates.

Potential Contributions: The findings from this study will provide a student-centric approach to understanding the impact of educational pathways within secondary education, how they may differ for different subgroups, as well as providing insight into the development and wellbeing of adolescents in secondary schools.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree or above preferably in Psychology, Sociology, or a related field.
• Familiar with the Singapore education system (mainstream / special education).
• Familiar with survey data collection and management.
• Able to perform statistical analysis confidently (e.g., factor analysis, regression).
• Proficient in Microsoft WORD, EXCEL, and POWERPOINT, TEAMS applications.
• Possess strong interpersonal communication, writing and language skills.
• Possess knowledge of qualitative and quantitative statistical software programs.
• Able to work independently with minimal supervision.
• Able to work cooperatively in both small (<3 pax) and large teams (>10 Pax).

Preferred:

• Proficient in using at least one statistical software package (e.g., SPSS, R, Stata, Mplus)
• Experience in working with databases.
• Experience with Qualtrics.
• Experience with Grant writing, and IRB.
• Familiar with major theories in educational social psychology (e.g., motivation, self and identity, social and cultural capital).
• Possess relevant experience in educational or psychological research.
• Ability to support the project in Operational Matters like logistics, voucher distributions, IRB applications and amendments.

Responsibilities:

• Liaise with participating schools/parents/teachers and other researchers involved in the project
• Prepare for, and implement data collection
• Maintain records and document research progress
• Assist with data preparation, entry, and analysis
• Assist in the administration and management of project related matters
• Assist in writing reports and papers for publication
• Conduct and summarize academic literature reviews
• Learn and perform statistical analysis independently
• Assist Pi with Grant writing, IRB submissions and preparation
• Assist project with logistics, voucher procurement, management and distribution
• Provide event-related support, participant and stakeholder engagement events and presentations
• Any other tasks as assigned by the Principal Investigator / Co-PIs

Application

Applicants (external and internal) will apply via Workday. We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

Closing Date

Closing date for advertisements will be set to 14 calendar days from date of posting.