Undergraduate Research Assistant: Analyzing Identity Characteristics on Reddit

Position Start Date: May 15, 2023
Position End Date: August 21, 2023, with the possibility to renew over the fall semester
Number of Hours per Week: 5-10

The ideal candidate for this position is a motivated, detail-oriented undergraduate student interested in gaining experience with social scientific research, particularly research investigating social and mass media, race/class/gender, and social inequality.

The Undergraduate Research Assistant will work with Graduate Student Research Supervisor Katherine Furl to categorically code posts from communities on the social media platform Reddit. Posts will be coded based on the perceived identity characteristics of post subjects, including perceived race/ethnicity; perceived gender; perceived age; and perceived social status. Additional categories may be incorporated into coding as research evolves.

In addition to categorical coding, the Undergraduate Research Assistant and Graduate Student Research Supervisor will meet weekly to discuss their observations over the past week. Weekly meetings can also be used to brainstorm ideas for future collaborative research. These meetings can occur either in person or remotely over Zoom.

No prior research experience is required for this position, though an interest in the relationship between social media and race/class/gender inequality is strongly preferred.