Residence Requirements:

CANDIDATES MUST HAVE BEEN LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY FOR AT LEAST ONE MONTH IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DATE OF THE WRITTEN TEST AND MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY AT THE TIME OF APPOINTMENT.  At present there is one vacancy in the Erie County Department of Senior Services.

Examples of Duties:

An Assistant Research Analyst assists with reporting, planning and evaluating programs and services, and assisting in conducting research to support new program development;

Collects data for reporting, monitoring, and evaluation of services;

Administers surveys (in-person, phone, and mail);

Provides technical support to staff and subcontractors on data collection and reporting;

Assists in the development of new and existing data collection processes;

Assists in the evaluation of new and existing data collection processes;

Assists with developing and tracking performance measures and key performance indicators;

Assists with tracking and forecasting service utilization;

Assists with monitoring progress on meeting demographic targeting requirements;

Assists in the preparation and updates of policies and procedures;

May prepare data for analysis including merging data sets, recoding variables, and computing variables;

May prepare and interpret descriptive statistics, including measures of central tendency and variation;

Supports the dissemination of research findings;

Works under direction of Research Analyst, supports Departmental data needs.

Qualifications:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:  Candidates must meet one of the following requirements on or before the date of the written test:

Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with a Bachelor’s Degree including sixteen (16) semester credit hours in applied research, data management or statistics.

Notes:

NOTE: One (1) year of experience in data management or applied research may be substituted for sixteen (16) semester credit hours.

The New York State Department of Civil Service has not prepared a test guide for this examination. However,candidates may find information in the publication "How to take a written test" helpful in preparing for this test. This publication is available on line at: https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm

Subjects of Examination:

SUBJECTS OF EXAMINATION: A written test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas:

1. Basic statistical concepts

These questions test for knowledge of the analytical methods used to reduce and describe large sets of numerical data. The questions cover such areas as the organization and presentation of data, statistical terminology, central tendency, variability, the normal curve, and correlation.

You will not be required to do any substantial manipulation of data.

2. Preparing written material

These questions test for the ability to present information clearly and accurately, and to organize paragraphs logically and comprehensibly. For some questions, you will be given information in two or three sentences followed by four restatements of the information. You must then choose the best version. For other questions, you will be given paragraphs with their sentences out of order. You must then choose, from four suggestions, the best order for the sentences.

3. Research methods and techniques

These questions test for knowledge of the conceptual foundations for the collection and interpretation of data. The questions cover such areas as survey methods and techniques, sampling theory and techniques, and drawing conclusions from research results.

You will not be required to do any substantial manipulation of data.

4. Understanding and interpreting tabular material

These questions test your ability to understand, analyze, and use the internal logic of data presented in tabular form. You may be asked to perform tasks such as completing tables, drawing conclusions from them, analyzing data trends or interrelationships, and revising or combining data sets. The concepts of rate, ratio, and proportion are tested. Mathematical operations are simple, and computational speed is not a major factor in the test. You should bring with you a hand-held battery- or solar-powered calculator for use on this test. You will not be permitted to use the calculator function of your cell phone.

5. Understanding and interpreting written material

These questions test for the ability to understand and interpret written material. You will be presented with brief reading passages and will be asked questions about the passages. You should base your answers to the questions only on what is presented in the passages and not on what you may happen to know about the topic.    

NOTICE TO CANDIDATES:  It is recommended that candidates use a quiet, hand held, solar or battery powered calculator.  Devices with typewriter keyboards, "Spell Checkers", “Personal Digital Assistants", "Address Books", "Language Translators", "Dictionaries", or any similar devices are prohibited.  You may not bring books or other reference materials.

**IMPORTANT APPLICATION FEE - READ CAREFULLY**

A $20.00 filing fee is required for this exam. The required fee must accompany your application. Send or bring check or money order made payable to Erie County Personnel Department and write the examination number(s) on your check or money order. Do not send or bring cash, as the County cannot be responsible for cash payment. As no refund will be made, you are urged to compare your qualifications carefully with the requirements for admission and file only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified.