Undergraduate Intern, Research
Position Summary:
The summer undergraduate internship is a paid opportunity during the summer of 2023. The internship begins June 5 and ends on or before August 25. Interns are expected to work a minimum 30 hours/week and are paid $17/hour. The internship is specifically for undergraduate students with an interest in public opinion, survey research, data science, data journalism, digital publication, or nonprofit administration.
Interns will have a variety of tasks, depending on the team they are assigned (for a full list of teams see the bottom of the page). For example, an intern on a research team may assist the research team on various aspects of the survey process, including questionnaire development, data management, statistical analysis, reporting of survey results and quality control. An intern on the digital team will learn Center workflows and assist in the production of visually compelling digital content to disseminate Pew Research Center’s findings and analysis to its key target audiences.
For all these tasks, attention to detail and individual judgment are critical in maintaining the highest standards of accuracy and impartiality.
Interns will work closely with staff. The internship provides opportunities to learn new skills and have a firsthand experience in data analysis and research production. In the summer of 2023, interns will work a hybrid schedule, working on-site in our Washington, DC office at least 2 days per week. A modest relocation stipend is available for candidates that need it.
Education/Training/Experience
- College student pursuing a Bachelor’s or Associate’s degree (and completed a minimum of their sophomore year).
- Interest in political science, sociology, journalism, data science, data journalism, data analysis or other related field.
- Experience with working with data and data analysis.
Application Procedure
A complete application will include the following required items:
- A resume
- A cover letter. The cover letter is a crucial part of your internship application as it allows our staff to more wholistically understand your goals and interests that might not be present in your resume. We don’t expect you to have all the skills posted in the job description. What we do want is for you to be able to explain in your cover letter why the skills you do have make you a good fit, and whether you’re willing learn new skills that pertain to this position.
Here are some key themes that staff at the Center like to know when reading cover letter:
1-What are your research interests and how does this internship at Pew fit in with those interests.
2- What about a research career is interesting to you? How would an internship with Pew connect with your long-term career goals?
3- What do you want to achieve or gain through your internship with Pew?
4- What relevant experience/if any do you have in the fields of research at Pew or general experience that may be applicable to the work that the Center does?
Please visit our internship page on our website for additional information about our internships.
Teams accepting undergraduate summer interns include (in your cover letter specify which two research teams you are most interested in joining):
U.S. Politics: The Center’s U.S. politics and policy team produces public opinion research on Americans’ attitudes about national politics and major policy issues, including timely and topical polling on the issues of the day. The politics team also studies major aspects of the American political system including partisanship, polarization and voting behavior. Interns will assist researchers in all stages of the survey process including building questionnaires, analyzing survey data and ensuring research publications are accurate. Politics interns will also have the opportunity to assist with writing up results and producing data visualizations.
Global Attitudes: The Center’s researchers in global attitudes and trends study international public opinion on an array of subjects, with a special emphasis on international affairs and democracy. Interns will participate in various stages of the research process, such as background research, questionnaire development, data analysis, data visualization, and writing. Global Attitudes will conduct a major cross-national survey in spring 2023, and interns will work closely with our team on that project, and they will learn about the team’s approach to cross-national research.
Religion: The Center’s researchers in religion and public life study religious change in the United States and around the world. Interns will contribute to a dataset on government restrictions and social hostilities involving religion using content analysis coding methods. Interns will gain insight into issues of religious freedom and belief (including non-belief) in nearly 200 countries and will learn about our approach to data collection, analysis and reporting. Other potential duties could include analyzing the transcripts of focus groups and in-depth interviews exploring religious identity among religious minorities in the U.S.
Social and Demographic Trends: The Center’s social and demographic trends researchers study how social and demographic change affects the way Americans view and experience work and family life, combining original public opinion research with economic and demographic analysis. Interns will participate in various stages of the research process, such as background research, questionnaire development, data analysis and visualization, and writing. Interns will have an opportunity to write a blog post under the supervision of a member of the research team.
Internet and Technology: The Center’s internet and technology researchers study the social impact of digital technologies, such as internet and broadband, mobile connectivity and social media. Interns will be introduced to all stages of the survey process including developing questionnaires, analyzing survey data, number checking, creating graphics, conceptualizing findings, and drafting a blog post. Internet interns will have a chance to work on several topics, including digital privacy and teens and technology.
Science and Society: The Center’s science and society researchers study social, ethical and policy questions raised by discoveries and innovations in science. Interns will assist researchers in all stages of the survey process including developing questionnaires, analyzing survey data, creating data visualizations, drafting text and ensuring publications are accurate. Science interns will conduct background research, help respond to outside requests for information, and conduct quality control reviews.
Race and Ethnicity: The Center’s researchers in issues of race and ethnicity chronicle the diverse, ever-changing racial and ethnic landscape of the United States. Interns will assist in the updating of demographic portraits of Hispanics and of voters, contributing analysis and research support. R&E interns will also support the team’s quality control tasks and provide general research support in the development of new Latino and Black American survey questionnaires. R&E interns will have an opportunity to write a short blog as part of the team’s research agenda.
News and Media: The Center’s journalism and media researchers study news and information trends, including public perceptions of the news media; evolving news consumption habits in a digital age; and key audience and economic indicators within the media industry itself. Interns with others on staff to gather and analyze internal and external data on current news trends. Tasks may include background literature review, proofreading and fact-checking, creating charts and tables and analysis of survey and content analysis data.
Due to the volume of applications received, applicants will be notified only if they are selected for interviews.
The deadline for applications is February 3, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. EST. Interviews will take place virtually in February and March, with the goal of all hiring decisions being made by the end of March 2023.