Part-time Statistical Methods Opportunity for Advanced Graduate Students

The Odum Institute is seeking enrolled advanced graduate students with demonstrated proficiency in statistical methods to become part of a team working to ensure the quality of datasets and analysis code underlying published articles.

The Odum Institute has partnered with prominent social science journals to implement and enforce their data replication policies, which require authors to submit their data and analysis code for independent quality review.  As a condition of final article acceptance, the data and code undergo a comprehensive verification process to confirm that the analytic results presented in the article can be reproduced.  This is part of a broader effort of the scientific community to support research reproducibility, thus preserving the integrity of the scientific record.

The Odum Institute has assembled a team to carry out the verification process in cooperation with journal editorial staff and in keeping with manuscript peer review and publication timelines.  As a member of this team, you will execute the analysis presented in the manuscript using the author-provided code, data, and supplemental materials in an attempt to generate tables and figures identical to those in the manuscript.  The verification process is one that is rigorous and demands significant competencies to include:

• Applied knowledge in a variety of statistical methods including regression analysis (linear, logistic, ordinal), ANOVA, multilevel/hierarchical modeling, generalized linear modeling, factor analysis and structural equation modeling
• Expertise in statistical software packages to include R and Stata
• Aptitude for identifying and diagnosing errors in analysis code
• Ability to communicate effectively and concisely in written correspondence
• Capacity to manage several concurrent projects and set reasonable priorities for project completion

Candidates will be asked to demonstrate these competencies by performing dataset/code verification on a sample manuscript submission.  Team members must be able to commit to a (flexible) schedule of at least 10 hours per week.

This position offers students an excellent opportunity to advance their skills and knowledge in statistical methods and data management while gaining an in-depth perspective of the scholarly publication landscape and broader issues related to reproducible research.

For more information or to apply, please contact odumarchive@unc.edu.