Job Offer
The Division “Methods and Evaluation/Quality Assurance” (Prof. Dr. Steffi Pohl) at the
Department of Education and Psychology at the Freie Universität Berlin plans on filling the
position as a
Research Assistant (65%)
(TV-L 13, 65%, 3 years)
in a DFG (German Research Foundation) project. The project (principal investigator: Prof. Dr.
Steffi Pohl, FU Berlin, cooperation partner: Dr. Matthias von Davier, ETS Princeton, USA) is
concerned with the development and evaluation of methods for handling missing data in
competence tests.
Project and Job Description
Large-scale educational studies, such as the Programme of International Student Assessment
(PISA), aim at investigating competences. Competences are usually assessed using tests that are
scaled with models of Item Response Theory (IRT). Since participants do not always answer all
questions in the test missing values occur. How the missing values are dealed with is crucial for
results and implications of the study (e.g., country rankings).
This issue is addressed in the project ‘Using response times to model missing values’. The project
is concerned with the development and evaluation of statistical procedures that take into
account missing values. Specifically, it is planned to employ proces data from computer-based
assessments, such as response times, to model the missing process.
The task of the prospective research assistant is to become acquainted with the respective
models, to adapt and refine them, and finally test them in simulation studies and empirical
analyses. Cooperation partner of the project is Dr. Matthias von Davier (Senior Research
Director, ETS Princeton, USA) who will co-supervise the work. Accordingly, meetings in Germany
and the USA are planned.
Requirements
The future job occupant should possess a very good Master’s degree in psychology, statistics,
social sciences, or related disciplines, have advanced knowledge and interest in statistical
methods, as well as sufficient English language skills. Experience with R or other statistics
software (e.g., SPSS, Stata, SAS, Matlab), as well as prior knowledge or the willingness to work
on IRT related topics is also required. Additionally, we would highly appreciate if the prospective
research assistant also enjoys working with and integrating in our existing team.
We offer
Through the work at the department as well as the cooperation with the Educational Testing
Service in Princeton, the job offers a wide national and international scientific environment as
well as various opportunities to acquire additional skills and qualifications. We encourage the
research assistant to pursue a PhD-degree for which adequate supervision is provided. No
lecturing obligation is bound to the position, however opportunities for lecturing in the area of
research methods exist if they are of interest. Additionally, various options to gain insight into
and participate in other research at the department exist.
Application
Severely handicapped applicants with equal qualification and aptitude will be given preferential
consideration. The Freie Universität Berlin seeks to increase the proportion of women in
research and teaching, and particularly encourages female applicants to apply for this position.
Please send your written application including the relevant documents til June, 21st 2016 by mail
(Free University Berlin, Department of Education and Psychology, Division “Methods and
Evaluation/Quality Assurance”, Judith Schmidt, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, 14195 Berlin,
Germany) as well as by E-Mail ([email protected]) to the secretary of the division,
Judith Schmidt. If you have any questions regarding the job offer, please contact Prof. Dr. Steffi
Pohl (Phone: +49 (0)30 838 - 62 926, E-Mail: [email protected]).
By applying for this position you consent that your data will be electronically processed and
stored.
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