Life, Physical, and Social Science · Holland code ICS

Social Science Research Assistants

Assist social scientists in laboratory, survey, and other social science research. May help prepare findings for publication and assist in laboratory analysis, quality control, or data management.

Also called: Graduate Research Assistant, Research Assistant, Research Associate, Social Research Assistant, Clinical Research Assistant, Graduate Assistant, Research Aide, Research Technician.

O*NET 19-4061.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $61,990; Middle half earn $48,620 to $77,760. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 53% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Design and create special programs for tasks such as statistical analysis and data entry and cleaning.
Obtain informed consent of research subjects or their guardians.
Administer standardized tests to research subjects, or interview them to collect research data.
Provide assistance with the preparation of project-related reports, manuscripts, and presentations.
Prepare tables, graphs, fact sheets, and written reports summarizing research results.
Recruit and schedule research participants.
Screen potential subjects to determine their suitability as study participants.
Perform descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses of data, using computer software.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
Active Listening3.8 / 5
Writing3.8 / 5
Critical Thinking3.8 / 5
Speaking3.4 / 5
Science3.3 / 5

Knowledge areas

English Language4.3 / 5
Computers and Electronics3.5 / 5
Administrative3.2 / 5
Mathematics3.1 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.0 / 5
Education and Training2.9 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic23
Investigative85
Artistic15
Social28
Enterprising21
Conventional82

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

demographer · DE Demograf/Demografin · FR démographe
statistician · DE Statistiker/Statistikerin · FR statisticien/statisticienne
biometrician · DE Biometriker/Biometrikerin · FR biométricien/biométricienne
epidemiologist · DE Epidemiologe/Epidemiologin · FR épidémiologiste
university research assistant · DE Forschungsassistent/Forschungsassistentin · FR assistant de recherche/assistante de recherche
communication scientist · DE Kommunikationswissenschaftler/Kommunikationswissenschaftlerin · FR chercheur en communication/chercheuse en communication

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Higher education teaching professionals (2311)258,500 employed
Business, research and administrative professionals n.e.c. (2439)104,500 employed
Natural and social science professionals n.e.c. (2119)36,500 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.20. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (19-4061).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test