We are no longer accepting applications for summer 2018. Applications will open for our next cohort of fellows in fall 2018.

The Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality (CPI) is leading a first-of-its-kind “qualitative census” of 5,000 families across the country. The National Poverty Study (NPS) will pioneer new ethnographic, survey, and experimental methods to understand how low- and middle-income Americans are making ends meet today.

The NPS will launch in California this summer, and we are seeking research fellows to field it. Fellows will conduct in-person interviews with families to learn about their lives, social networks, economic activity, mindsets, bandwidth, health, and well-being, and will conduct a randomized control trial of wise interventions designed to help advance the welfare of low-income populations.

Before going to the field, selected fellows will participate in a research practicum led by professors David Grusky, Geoffrey Cohen, and Kathryn Edin, the country’s foremost expert in qualitative research on poverty. The practicum will include an intensive introduction to the economics, sociology, psychology, and policy of poverty as well as specialized training in qualitative interviewing, experimental methods, and the NPS protocol.

Fellowships will be funded full-time for 10 weeks (June 25–August 31). Fellows will be assigned to large urban (e.g. Los Angeles) or rural California counties. Although location preference cannot be guaranteed, it will be taken into account.

NPS research fellowships are designed for undergraduates or early-year graduate students. Priority will be given to Stanford undergraduates, but students from other universities are also encouraged to apply. To apply, please submit a resume, cover letter, and transcript to inequality@stanford.edu. Applications are being accepted now and will be reviewed beginning February 1, 2018.

The National Poverty Study is a joint research initiative of the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality, Princeton University, Johns Hopkins University, and the American Institutes for Research.