The Impact of Business and Related Restrictions on COVID Fatalities
I am seeking student research assistant support to track state orders restricting businesses and the local population in response to the COVID pandemic. The data will be used to assess which business closures and restrictions on the U.S. population impacted the number of COVID fatalities in an area.
The data acquisition requires RAs to determine if a particular order was ever issued by a state (for example, determining when restaurants were banned from having indoor seating). If an order was issued, when it went into effect, the date it was allowed to expire and a link to the documents where the data came from. In addition, we still need to acquire contact names and emails for each state and county in the state. These contact addresses will be used to seek verification of the data we collect.
Requisite Skills and Qualifications:
Before applying for this position you should be aware that the work involves on-going monitoring of statements and declarations released by state governments. This will require a large number of web searches, reading through state executive orders as well as news articles and then adding the new information to database. (Much of the work is mind numbingly dull!) No programming skills are required, but a very high level of attention to detail is crucial. (Even when you are sure that reading one more executive order will put you immediately to sleep.) An interest in economic and health policies is also helpful!