Student Opportunities

The Democracy Action Lab (DAL) at the Stanford Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) — an action-oriented initiative that bridges academic knowledge and practitioner-focused tools and resources to strengthen the work of frontline democracy defenders in Latin America — seeks to hire an undergraduate research student to support a research project in Brazil. Developed in close collaboration with a local civil society organization, the project is a social media study of an advocacy campaign that explores reception and engagement patterns, as well as the broader discursive environment in which the campaign is situated.

The work will take place remotely as direct project partners are located in Europe and Brazil. This position provides the opportunity for direct access and engagement with Stanford researchers and political science faculty as part of a larger community studying and promoting democratic resilience; the RA will also have exposure to the work of civil society organizations in Brazil and Latin America. The team is highly international and deeply values creativity, independence, and collaboration in the research process. Given the nature of the study, the research assistant will likely be exposed to platform content of a negative nature (disinformation, abusive language, bullying and harassment, etc.). Prior training around data confidentiality, research ethics, and responsible data handling is an advantage (but space can be given to complete such training as part of onboarding).

The work mainly involves collecting, processing, and analyzing Portuguese-language social media content. The student will be required to identify, clean, and manage large volumes of publicly available platform data (text, images, videos, audio), supporting the research lead in synthesizing multiple data streams and writing analytic summaries that help answer the study’s research questions. This involves, for example, working with platform APIs and research tools in a secure data environment, building and running queries, deduplicating results, and preparing coding sets for qualitative analysis. Tasks will also include support with analytical and contextual data framing, qualitative coding, documentation review, desk research, audio transcription, and partner communication under the research lead’s guidance.

Knowledge of Python and Jupyter is essential, along with comfort working with large datasets. Candidates should also be able to apply a qualitative codebook carefully and consistently. Prior experience with aggregated social media data is strongly preferred; familiarity with APIs and web-based content library environments is an asset.

Given the focus of the study, preference will be given to candidates fluent in Brazilian Portuguese and knowledgeable of Brazilian social, political, and cultural norms and recent developments. Knowledge of Spanish is considered an asset.

Prior formal research experience using analytical software for data mining and analysis is preferred. Relevant coursework or projects may substitute for formal research experience. Experience conducting social media research (particularly in international contexts) and working with civil society organizations is desirable. Experience with qualitative research is an advantage.

We are seeking an undergraduate student with availability for 10 hours/week for approximately 12 weeks, starting in October. Compensation is $18.70/hour.

Application deadline: October 13, 11:59 pm PT.

Interested students can apply here: https://forms.gle/CghEJFF2bL66L6Lp7