Senior Research Associate, Kansas City, MO

About the Opportunity

The College of Social Sciences and Humanities (CSSH) is a leader in the Experiential Liberal Arts. The College is strongly committed to fostering excellence through diversity and enthusiastically welcomes applications from members of groups underrepresented in higher education administration.  

The College’s schools, departments, and programs—with disciplines ranging from economics and history to English, urban affairs, international affairs, and American Sign Language Interpreting—form an interdisciplinary environment with global perspectives and a culture of inclusion. Our faculty connects liberal arts education with the challenges of our time, fostering ethical reasoning and critical thought with attention to the enduring significance of history, literature, and culture. Strategic Areas of Focus for the College’s education and research throughout its global network are (1) Resilience, Sustainability, Health, and Equity, (2) Cultural Transformations, Governance, and Globalization, and (3) Network Science, Computational Social Science, Digital Humanities, and Information Ethics.  

CSSH has long been committed to creating a culture of inclusion for our students, faculty, and staff. Diversity and inclusion, as well as questions of race, racism, and anti-racism, are part of all our programs, all our research centers, and our three areas of strategic focus—and are always works in progress. At the same time, we focus on how modes of constructing social hierarchies, including race, gender, sexuality, class, ability, and others, intersect with one another. 

 
Responsibilities: 
The Senior Research Associate will serve as a key member of the research team for a National Institute of Justice funded collaboration between Northeastern University and the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department (KCPD). The research project involves the analysis of automated vehicle locator (AVL) data and body-worn camera (BWC) video to analyze police patrol activity and police-citizen interactions. The Senior Research Associate will be stationed on-site at Kansas City Police Department headquarters. Annual trips to Northeastern’s Boston campus will be required (and funded) to participate in research team training activities.

The Senior Research Associate will have primary responsibility for collecting data, maintaining project databases, and assisting with the qualitative analysis of BWC video. This will involve extracting data from KCPD databases, processing data to operationalize variables of interest, and coding BWC video to ensure inter-rater reliability. The Senior Research Associate will work with the KCPD project liaisons to identify any additional data sources of value for the project and collaborate with different KCPD offices as needed to establish data collection protocols.

The Senior Research Associate will collaborate with senior members of the research team and review the work of graduate student researchers. Other responsibilities include assisting with the presentation of research findings to academic and public audiences and co-authoring technical reports, scholarly journal articles, and policy briefs.

This is a grant-funded, two year position.

 
Qualifications: 

PhD in criminology, criminal justice, or closely-related social science discipline is strongly preferred.

A masters degree in criminology, criminal justice, or closely-related social science discipline can substitute for the PhD if the candidate demonstrates exemplary prior relevant experience.

Prior experience in conducting social science research in police department settings and conducting rigorous mixed-methods research projects are required. Strong database management skills are required.

Prior experience conducting observational analysis of video data strongly preferred.

Documents to Submit:  

CV and cover letter required.

Position Type

Research

Additional Information

Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer.  

Northeastern has a comprehensive benefits package for benefit eligible employees. This includes medical, vision, dental, paid time off, tuition assistance, wellness & life, retirement- as well as commuting & transportation. Visit https://hr.northeastern.edu/benefits/ for more information.  

Northeastern University is an equal opportunity employer, seeking to recruit and support a broadly diverse community of faculty and staff.  Northeastern values and celebrates diversity in all its forms and strives to foster an inclusive culture built on respect that affirms inter-group relations and builds cohesion. 

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other  characteristic protected by applicable law.

To learn more about Northeastern University’s commitment and support of diversity and inclusion, please see www.northeastern.edu/diversity .