CHAPA Seeks a Neighborhood Data Analysis Intern (Summer 2015)

Job Description

Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) is contributing to a mixed-method study of housing and community revitalization outcomes of state investments in affordable housing production in Massachusetts over the next year. CHAPA seeks a part-time (12 hours/week) Data Analyst to support its multi-dimensional investigation of community well-being in study communities.

Background:

The purpose of the study is to strengthen revitalization outcomes of publicly-funded investments in affordable housing production in Massachusetts. A literature review of housing-based community revitalization will be combined with two primary research components: (1) Policy analysis of current community revitalization objectives and practices of the MA Department of Housing and Community Development’s (DHCD) housing production investments, and (2) A case study of three recent affordable housing development projects funded through DHCD processes.

Secondary data analysis:

CHAPA will be using area-level data to describe conditions in study neighborhoods over time. Analyses will determine trends over time, as well as comparisons among study neighborhoods and the entire town/city. Doing so will require identification of appropriate geographies (i.e., census tracts and changes over time), assembly of data, creation of measures/indicators, and descriptive analyses. Data assembly will begin after study projects have been chosen and recruited, likely late Spring 2015.

Intern Roles & Responsibilities:

• Assemble secondary data from Policy Map and/or other publicly available data websites
• Clean data and maintain study database
• Develop neighborhood indicators and analyze trends in study neighborhoods and municipalities
• Potentially work with public agencies and/or property managers for assembly of administrative data

Relevant Knowledge, Skills, Attributes:

• Familiarity with area-level data and sources – such as the Census, American Community Survey, FFIEC HMDA Data, Community Reinvestment Act data on small business lending
• Interest in community revitalization and well-being; knowledge of housing economics and community change research, a plus
• Strong EXCEL skills are a must, familiarity with statistical analysis software a plus (e.g. SPSS, Stata)
• Strong attention to detail and organizational skills
We anticipate 12 hours per week for roughly 10 weeks between June and August 2015. The intern will be provided a $2,000 stipend to support their contribution to the study. The intern will be free to work from their home/campus with occasional in-person and phone meetings with the study team.

Application Instructions:

CHAPA looks forward to exploring these opportunities with interested students and faculty. Please contact Ann Verrilli, Director of Research (averilli@chapa.org, 617.742.0820) to further discuss.