Location: Scottsdale,Arizona
Expected Start Date: Apr 7, 2025
Salary: $75,000 - $81,500
Bring the role to life for me: This is a
highly execution-focused quantitative research role supporting established Dreamscape Learn (DSL) studies.
- The researcher is stepping into well-structured, well-documented projects - this is not exploratory research
- There is extensive existing documentation, surveys, datasets, and reporting templates
- The primary responsibility is executing analysis and producing reports, not designing new studies
- Work is fast-paced and deadline-driven (e.g., multiple high-priority reports due at the same time)
- Success in the first 12 months looks like:
- Consistently delivering high-quality quantitative reports
- Synthesizing findings into clear written takeaways
- Managing multiple concurrent studies without getting overwhelmed
- Once they've proven strong execution, they may gradually:
- Pitch additional analyses
- Contribute more meaningfully to research design
This role requires someone who is:
- Extremely organized
- Comfortable with some ambiguity and competing priorities
- Strong in written communication (summarizing long-term research clearly)
- From JD:
- This role is primarily focused on executing applied quantitative research, with some contribution to research design and methodology as needed.
- The researcher will support scholarly and operational research for Dreamscape Learn (DSL), ASU's virtual-reality-based learning products.
- Work includes data extraction, cleaning, statistical analysis, visualization, survey research, reporting, and stakeholder collaboration.
- Research is action-oriented and operational, intended to inform pedagogy, engagement, learning technology decisions, and equity outcomes.
About Dreamscape Learn (DSL) Dreamscape Learn is a collaboration between ASU and Dreamscape Immersive, founded during COVID. It combines
storytelling, virtual reality, and curriculum design to improve outcomes in high-failure-rate courses.
Examples include:
- Biology and chemistry courses where students explore concepts (e.g., going inside atoms) through VR
- WP Carey projects where students experience a virtual Starbucks from a supply-chain perspective, observing real-world operational dynamics (e.g., peak hours, process flow)
- Are there active Dreamscape Learn (DSL) studies this hire would step into right away, or would they be launching new research?
- JD:
- ongoing mixed-methods Dreamscape Learn (DSL) studies already exist, and this person will step into active research while also supporting iterative research on newly developed DSL products.
What types of quantitative analyses does the team run most often today? - Descriptive statistics (primary)
- Comparisons across student cohorts (e.g., pass/fail, demographics)
- Outcome analysis across large student populations (e.g., 1,000+ students)
- Occasional regression analysis (not heavy or advanced modeling)
Top 3-5 responsibilities - Execute quantitative analyses in R using existing datasets and frameworks
- Clean, transform, and manage research data efficiently
- Produce clear, structured reports with written key takeaways
- Support multiple concurrent DSL studies and reporting timelines
- Collaborate internally with researchers and stakeholders (internal-facing only)
Required Qualifications - What are the true must haves - what does this person need to come in already knowing? Hard Skills - Strong quantitative data analysis skills using R
- Data cleaning, transformation, and visualization
- Experience with quantitative research methodologies
- Survey research experience (Qualtrics preferred)
- Ability to manage multiple research projects and files
Nice to Have - SQL experience
- Experience with higher education research or institutional data
- Familiarity with learning science or VR-based education research
Education / Certifications PhD required - Discipline must have a strong statistical foundation
- STEM-related fields are ideal (science, technology, engineering, math)
- Candidates must have taken statistics during their PhD and actively used R
What level of R expertise is required on day one? - Must be able to:
- Independently analyze data in R
- Write and run analysis code without assistance
- Deliver clean, repeatable outputs
- This cannot be someone who:
- "Knows R conceptually"
- Relies on ChatGPT or AI to generate code
- They do not want to train someone on R
Nice to Have - SQL experience (joins, basic querying)
- Experience with higher education or institutional research data
- Familiarity with learning science or VR-based education research
Soft Skills - Strong written communication (clear synthesis of long-term research findings)
- Ability to stay calm and organized under heavy workload
- Comfortable working heads-down with limited external presentation exposure
Disqualifiers - Do NOT Want to See - Candidates who cannot demonstrate real, hands-on R experience
- "Vibe coders" or candidates dependent on AI to write analysis code
- Qualitative-only researchers or tools (e.g., MaxQDA, Dedoose, ATLAS.ti)
Where Are Candidates Missing the Mark? - Claiming R experience but unable to demonstrate it
Screening Questions to Use Up Front - Walk me through how you've used R in your dissertation or recent research
- What types of statistical analyses do you run most often in R?
- How do you manage multiple research deadlines at once?
- Can you share an example of a report you've produced summarizing long-term findings?
Interview Process - Round 1 (Panel):
- Selena (lead)
- Kevin (Senior Researcher)
- Bailey (slightly more senior colleague)
- Round 2 Annie
- Technical Assessment:
- Sponsorship is possible for the right candidate, but must be discussed upfront