Research Officer (Computational Text Analysis and Qualitative Research), SOCSP

Lingnan University is one of the eight publicly funded institutions in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and has the longest established tradition among the local institutions of higher education. It is widely recognised for providing quality education with a focus on whole-person development and conducting high-impact research for a better world. Moving forward, Lingnan University is well positioned to take lead as a comprehensive university in arts and sciences in the digital era, with impactful research and innovations.
Lingnan University offers undergraduate, taught postgraduate, and research postgraduate programmes in the Faculties of Arts, Business, Social Sciences, and the Schools of Data Science, Graduate Studies and Interdisciplinary Studies. To foster interdisciplinary collaboration and scientific progress, Lingnan University established the Lingnan University Institute for Advanced Study (LUIAS), attracting distinguished scholars from around the world to collaborate with its faculty and students. With traditional strengths in arts, business, social sciences, and interdisciplinary studies, the University aims to equip students with practical knowledge and critical thinking skills to thrive in the future. Subsequent to the establishment of the School of Data Science and LUIAS, Lingnan University is transforming into a hub for global leaders to develop and promote human-centric technology and social policies. Further information about Lingnan University is available at https://www.ln.edu.hk/.
Applications are now invited for the following post:
Research Officer (Computational Text Analysis and Qualitative Research)
Department of Sociology and Social Policy
(Post Ref.: 26/243)

The appointee will join an interdisciplinary research team, led by Prof. Alex Preda, bringing together expertise in economic sociology, financial technology, computer science, data science and blockchain analytics. The project is Trustworthy Stablecoins: Coordinating Centralized and Decentralized Finance at Scale. The appointee will contribute to a mixed-methods study combining computational text analysis, qualitative document analysis and interviews to examine trust, evidence and reporting in stablecoin markets and the interface between centralized and decentralized finance. The position is for a period of 18 months, starting 2 January 2027.
Responsibilities

• Collect, construct, clean and manage textual datasets comprising regulatory documents, court and litigation documents, audit and reserve reports, industry white papers, technical documentation and related materials
  
• Conduct computational text analysis using appropriate programming and natural-language-processing techniques
  
• Conduct qualitative content/thematic analysis of documentary materials and integrate computational and qualitative findings
  
• Assist with the design and conduct of semi-structured interviews with participants in financial, fintech and blockchain-related fields, including interview data management, coding and analysis
  
• Contribute to the interpretation of findings, preparation of research outputs, presentations and academic publications
  
• Maintain well-documented and reproducible research
  
• Perform other duties as assigned by the supervisor
  Requirements
  
• A master’s degree in one of the following: sociology, economic sociology, computational social science, digital social science, anthropology, communication/information studies, behavioural science, or a related social science discipline. Candidates from closely related interdisciplinary fields will also be considered
  
• Demonstrated experience in analysing qualitative or textual data, with experience in computational text analysis, text mining or natural-language processing, preferably using Python and/or R
  
• Experience in the collection, cleaning, organisation and analysis of unstructured textual data and document corpora
  
• Strong qualitative research skills, including qualitative textual analysis; experience with semi-structured interviewing and thematic coding would be an advantage
  
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in an interdisciplinary research team and to maintain clear and reproducible research documentation
  
• Excellent written and spoken English
  
• Knowledge of financial markets, financial institutions, fintech, blockchain or digital assets would be an advantage
  Salary and Benefits
  Commencing salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. Fringe benefits, where applicable, include annual leave, medical and dental benefits and mandatory provident fund. Appointment will be made on a fixed-term contract for 18 months.
  Application Procedure (online applications only)
  Please click "Apply Now" to submit your application. Personal data collected will be used for recruitment purposes only.
  We are an equal opportunities employer. Review of applications will start immediately and continue until the post is filled. Qualified candidates are advised to submit their applications early for consideration.
  The University reserves the right not to make an appointment for the post advertised, or to fill the post by invitation or by search. We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.