Senior Research Officer

The Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Essex wishes to appoint a talented and ambitious quantitative researcher as a Senior Research Officer to examine methodological aspects of the Understanding Society Study, in particular in relation to health and biomarker data collection.

Understanding Society: The UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) is a major household panel survey funded by the Economic and Social Research Council with co-funding from some government departments. It began in 2009 and incorporated its predecessor the British Household Panel Study (BHPS) and includes a test bed sample, the ‘Innovation Panel’ (IP). At waves 2 and 3 (2010-2012) of the main survey, clinical and biological data were collected by a nurse visit to the participants’ home. Experiments to examine mode effects on biomarker collection were implemented in IP12 (2019).  A new biomarker wave is currently in field (2024-2026) using remote collection protocols and an experiment to examine response rates for microbiome collection is in preparation to be collected in IP18 (2025).  The study is multi-topic and designed to meet the research needs of a range of disciplines across the social and bio-medical sciences.

Understanding Society is seen as world-leading in its survey design, provides unique longitudinal data on within household dynamics for the UK and has a high international profile.

Duties of the Role

This post will focus on evaluating initiatives to improve on the quality of biomarker data collection in the Innovation Panel by increasing response to the study, take-up and return of biomarker samples, including the microbiome collection. Additionally, analyses will examine change of interview mode and effects of question wording and design on collection of health data.

The post requires an understanding of survey methods and statistics, especially as they relate to longitudinal studies, and a commitment to rigorous evaluation to provide the highest quality learning about data collection as it relates to health and biomarkers.

A full list of duties and responsibilities can be found within the job pack.

Qualifications and Skills required

Applicants should possess, or be nearing completion of, a PhD in quantitative social, epidemiology or health sciences, with a strong focus on methods or practice.

You must have experience in conducting advanced quantitative analyses using large-scale, complex survey data. Proficiency in data management, statistical analysis and programming is also required.

An interest in biomarker data will be welcomed.

A full list of applicant requirements can be found under the Person Specification section within the job pack.

This is a fixed-term research post until 31 December 2027 in line with the grant funding.

At the University of Essex, internationalism and diversity is central to who we are and what we do. We are committed to being a cosmopolitan, internationally oriented university that is welcoming to staff and students from all countries, faiths and backgrounds, where you can find the world in one place.

Please use the 'Apply' button to read further information about this role including the full job description and person specification which outlines the full duties, skills, qualifications and experience needed for this role. You will also find details of how to make your application here. Our website http://www.essex.ac.uk contains more information about the University of Essex. If you have a disability and would like information in a different format, please email resourcing@essex.ac.uk. 

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