What kinds of things do research assistants do?

The purpose of a research assistantship is not only to provide support for faculty conducting research, but also to provide an opportunity for you to receive coaching and mentoring in research. Research assistants learn valuable skills in developing research. Faculty mentors work with their research assistants on research projects to develop or refine research skills. Listed below are some ideas that may be helpful.

• Literature searches using a variety of indexes
• Retrieval of library materials
• Internet searches
• Processing of subject incentives
• Data cleaning, entry, and analysis
• Development of memos, letters, etc. for project correspondence
• Development of tables reporting study data/findings
• Drafting project reports
• Maintaining project files
• Participation in data collection activities such as phone interviews,
  surveys, focus groups, etc.
• Participation in development of Institutional Review Board proposals
• Participation in proposal, abstract, and/or manuscript development
• Phone calls related to project activities
• Photocopying of project materials
• Preparation of data collection instruments (surveys, questionnaires, etc.)
• Preparation of slides and graphics using PowerPoint
• Subject recruitment and tracking
• Using spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel.
• Using data analysis packages such as NVivo, SAS, SPSS.

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