About The Measurement Group Archives

Position Available: Program Evaluation/Research Assistant

March 4, 2018 By Lisa Melchior 1 Comment

Image courtesy of mrpuen at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Measurement Group LLC (TMG) has an immediate opening for a full-time program evaluation/research assistant in its Culver City, CA (Los Angeles Westside) office.

The Measurement Group is a consulting firm with 30 years of experience specializing in program evaluation for health and social services. We help clients in both the public and private sectors document their activities and programs, record outcomes, assure the quality of their services, and improve quality. Our clients include community based organizations, federal and state healthcare agencies, and private philanthropies.

Research assistants work directly with senior PhDs and other professional evaluation staff on project reports and presentations, including policy reports, scientific publications, and presentations at professional meetings. Duties include assisting with data collection, entry and cleaning; coding of qualitative data; basic quantitative data analysis; word processing; and general office support. Depending on qualifications, duties may also include additional data management and statistical analysis and travel to client meetings and conferences. Although the exact mix of projects is subject to change, current projects that TMG research assistants work on include: an evaluation of a program for young adults age 18-25 affected by substance abuse, mental illness, homelessness, and other health-social problems; evaluations of community-based programs designed to eliminate health disparities; and other treatment and prevention programs for vulnerable populations.

This is an excellent opportunity for individuals who wish to gain applied research experience and benefit from professional development opportunities before returning to graduate or professional school. Dozens of previous TMG research assistants have pursued advanced study (PhD, MA, MPH, MD) in fields such as public health, psychology, social work and medicine at prestigious universities such as Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, UC Berkeley, USC, UCLA, Columbia and UNC.

Applicants with a BA/BS in Psychology, Sociology, or other Health or Social Science field and one or more years of relevant experience (which can include undergraduate experience working in related research) are strongly encouraged to apply. We are looking for someone who is detail-oriented, able to multi-task, and has strong organizational skills. Bilingual English/Spanish preferred. Proficiency with standard office computer applications (word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, etc.), as well as software for statistical analysis (SPSS) is desirable. This position involves a mix of (1) data collection with young adults with substance abuse and/or mental health issues and (2) office work performing program evaluation and other office support tasks. The ideal candidate is a self-starter who works well both independently as well as with others in a team.

Competitive salary, company-paid healthcare plan, standard vacation and holiday schedules.

Interested applicants should submit a cover letter and resume to info@themeasurementgroup.com.

Evaluation Internship/Part-Time position

April 14, 2016 By Lisa Melchior Leave a Comment

Evaluation Internship or Part-Time Position
Coding of Family Strengthening Themes in Qualitative Case Studies

The Measurement Group LLC has an immediate opening for a part-time temporary Evaluation Assistant/Intern position. The Evaluation Assistant/Intern will primarily assist with coding qualitative case studies from an evaluation of the Westside Partnerships for Families program, a child abuse prevention program that uses a mental health home visiting framework. The Evaluation Assistant/Intern will:

Receive training on coding procedures and code of a set of case studies as part of a study to be submitted for publication;
Learn how to use qualitative data analysis programs such as NVIVO for coding;
Learn about reliability analysis in qualitative inquiry;
Assist with preparation of project data for submission to a professional journal;
Work under the supervision of senior evaluation staff.

The Evaluation Assistant/Intern may also be assigned additional evaluation support tasks on other projects as needed. This is a short-term position. $15/hour. Work must be performed at the offices of The Measurement Group in Culver City, CA during business hours (9am – 5pm, M-F).

Requirements: Undergraduate or graduate psychology or related social science major, plus experience/knowledge of child welfare, child development, and/or related social services. B.A. preferred, although an undergraduate with relevant experience will be considered.

This project is part of an evaluation of the Westside Partnerships for Family program, which was recently featured in an article in Children and Youth Services Review. The qualitative coding is for a new article that examines in more depth how this mental health home visiting model promotes protective factors for child abuse prevention and family strengthening.

Contact Dr. Lisa Melchior

Time flies…or what’s been going on at The Measurement Group

December 1, 2015 By Lisa Melchior Leave a Comment

ID-10040313 — Image courtesy of dan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I really didn’t mean for this much time to go by since my last blog entry in May. My colleagues and I at The Measurement Group have been busy with a number of interesting projects. For example:

We recently completed a five-year evaluation of the Los Angeles Integrated Add Us In Consortium, led by the Integrated Recovery Network. This project was funded by the US Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) to expand employment opportunities for people with disabilities. The Los Angeles Consortium created and implemented a successful model for helping people with primarily mental health disabilities to gain “soft skills,” connect with employers, and gain and maintain jobs that match their abilities and interests. Across the five-year project period, the Los Angeles Consortium helped its clients — many of whom are homeless and dealing with mental illness — in successfully obtaining 193 jobs! It was an incredibly rewarding experience to work with this group and help them document and share their outcomes.

Since earlier this year, we have been working with Arizona First Things First on the evaluation of an online developmental screening program they have implemented in three regions. We’ve interviewed a number of stakeholders to understand issues that they encounter in providing developmental screening to families with young children (0-5 years). In particular, we’ve been learning about the successes and challenges they’ve had in using an online screening tool. We continue to gather and share information with our colleagues on this project to help inform their future developmental screening strategies.

These are just a few highlights of the work we’ve been doing in recent months. In addition, life got busy with high school graduations, family trips, and transitions with my son starting college. So, blogging took a back seat for a while. But with lots of news to share, I will be returning to active blogging soon…if not now, then I’ll make an early new year’s resolution?

The Measurement Group on Twitter

March 12, 2015 By Lisa Melchior Leave a Comment

I tweet for The Measurement Group on Twitter. For those of you who follow me there, I’ve changed my Twitter name from @lmelchior to @DrLisaMelchior.

I tweet about topics related to health, behavioral health, social services outcomes for vulnerable populations and the types of programs The Measurement Group works with. I also tweet about measurement, program evaluation, quantitative/qualitative methods, and data. So whether you are interested in content or methods, find me at @DrLisaMelchior and follow The Measurement Group on Twitter!