Senior Research Scientist; Prof Haidt

New York, NY (Hybrid)

Oct 09, 2026

About the Lab

The Tech & Society Lab at NYU Stern, led by Jonathan Haidt and managed by Zach Rausch, is the research home of one of the most influential bodies of work on technology, adolescent mental health, and social behavior. The Lab sits at the intersection of rigorous academic research and real-world impact — generating the evidence base that drives policy, shapes public discourse, and informs the work of The Anxious Generation Movement organization.

We are in an active growth phase, expanding our research agenda, team, and institutional footprint.

The Role

The Tech & Society Lab is seeking a Senior Research Scientist specializing in statistics and quantitative research methods. This person will serve as a methodological leader across the Lab, helping ensure the rigor of our quantitative work, advising researchers on statistical questions, conducting and overseeing sophisticated analyses, and critically evaluating influential research in the field.

The Senior Research Scientist will work across the Lab's research portfolio, including projects on smartphones, social media, education, mental health, and other emerging technologies. Familiarity with research on social media, AI, gaming, gambling, or related technology-use questions is desirable but not required. More important is intellectual curiosity and an interest in developing substantive expertise in these areas. The role would involve roughly 70% statistics/methods and 30% research.

This role is particularly well suited to a statistician who enjoys collaborative research: moving between methodological consultation, quality assurance, original analysis, research criticism, and substantive scientific questions.

Key Responsibilities

1. Provide Statistical Quality Assurance Across the Lab

• Review statistical analyses, methods, tables, figures, and quantitative claims before publication.
• Verify that statistical results are accurately interpreted and communicated with appropriate precision and caution.
• Identify potential errors, ambiguities, robustness concerns, or weaknesses in statistical reasoning.
• Review work produced by Lab researchers, collaborators, contractors, and students.
• Help establish consistent standards and best practices for statistical reporting across Lab projects.

2. Serve as a Statistical Advisor to Lab Researchers

• Advise researchers on study design, model selection, measurement, statistical inference, robustness testing, and interpretation.
• Help determine appropriate analytical strategies when methodological choices are unclear or contested.
• Provide consultation on causal inference, longitudinal analysis, quasi-experimental methods, survey analysis, and other quantitative approaches.
• Support researchers in understanding unfamiliar or technically complex statistical methods.
• Conduct rigorous methodological evaluations of influential studies related to technology and society.
• Assess whether statistical analyses support the conclusions drawn by authors, journalists, policymakers, and other commentators.
• Collaborate with subject-matter experts to produce critiques, responses, working papers, and, where appropriate, peer-reviewed publications.
• Take primary responsibility for assessing the statistical and methodological components of such critiques while working with other Lab researchers on substantive interpretation.

4. Lead and Collaborate on Quantitatively Sophisticated Research Projects

• Conduct original analyses using large-scale longitudinal, survey, administrative, and quasi-experimental datasets.
• Lead projects requiring substantial statistical or methodological…