Senior Post-doctoral Researcher - Research Data & Analysis

Senior Post-doctoral Researcher – 33 month, fixed-term, whole-time post

We are seeking a post-doctoral researcher with experience of multi method research to work on the design and implementation of research data collection, management and analysis for the “LINLOSS” project funded through an ERC award to Professor Jane Gray. LINLOSS will collect a large body of complex data in Ireland and Poland, including unstructured life narratives, structured life histories, support genealogies and neighbourhood maps. Working closely with all members of the LINLOSS research team, the post-doctoral researcher will play a leading role in designing the techniques to implement the study methodology, including customizing instruments to assist computer-assisted collection of data in the field. They will also assist with the construction and management of a bi-lingual, research data collection linking structured and unstructured data for multi-modal comparative analysis.

Overview of the LINLOSS project

LINLOSS aims to understand how losses, disposals and dead-ends shape the direction of social change at moments of rupture, and to develop a formal theory of social loss.  It will develop new explanations of how loss generates change at multiple, intersecting societal scales: in the transformation of cultural and institutional patterns across generations; within changing relationships across genealogies and social networks; and in the reconstruction of pasts and futures within biographies.

The research will be a comparative, cross-national community study conducted in Ireland and Poland. The main form of data collection will be mixed biographical interviews, combining unstructured and formal elements, connected within genealogical support networks.

Principal duties

• In collaboration with the research team, designing and implementing techniques for multi- method interviews, including customizing instruments for computer-assisted data collection
• Leading the construction of a cross-national, multi-method research collection linking structured and unstructured data for multi-modal analysis
• Jointly conducting data analysis as a member of the project research team
• Jointly drafting articles and other outputs for scholarly publication
• Presenting at national and international conferences
• Helping with the organization and coordination of meetings and workshops related to the project

The ideal candidate will have:

Essential

• Candidates will have a PhD or equivalent qualification, in Sociology or a relevant cognate discipline
• To be appointed at the grade of Senior Post Doctoral researcher, candidates will need at least two years post-doctoral relevant relative research experience.
• They will have extensive experience of multi method research, including survey research and qualitative interviewing
• They will be experienced users of software for quantitative data analysis, preferably including R
• They will be familiar with software for qualitative data analysis, such as MaxQDA
• They will have experience of computer-assisted interviewing
• They will be familiar with research data management for qualitative and multi-method social science

Desirable

• R programming skills
• Experience working with data in different languages

Application procedure

Applications must be submitted online via the Maynooth University vacancy portal www.maynoothuniversity.ie/human-resources/vacancies

Key dates

Closing date: 23:30 (local Irish time) on 18^th August 2024

Anticipated start date: 1^st October 2024

Further information

Further information about the role including application procedure should be obtained from the Maynooth University vacancies website www.maynoothuniversity.ie/human-resources/vacancies

Informal enquiries may be directed to Prof. Jane Gray jane.gray@mu.ie

Advert information