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Careers
Westat’s Field Data Collector Team
Looking for a field data collection job? Westat provides a great opportunity for you, with flexible work schedules, interesting projects, travel opportunities, and work that is meaningful and impactful. Because Westat conducts so many surveys, both large and small, there’s always an opportunity to create a work schedule that fits your calendar.
As a Westat field data collector, you have the opportunity to meet interesting study respondents and learn about issues that affect their lives. The data you collect help inform policymakers with what’s really important to people and what is happening in communities where you live and around the nation. It’s a great opportunity to earn income while making a difference!
Featured Field Positions
Westat has a large portfolio of ongoing projects that allow you to work flexible hours; you can stay busy with the schedule you want. Check out our current opportunities below.
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Assessing American children’s educational progress, applications to work for NAEP 2024 opens to the general public on June 30, 2023, and will remain open until December 1 or until positions are filled.
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This national data collection charts early childhood development. Field data begins in fall 2023, following a sample of 21,000 children in 1,000 schools from K-fifth grade.
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This study is centered on studying key data regarding the activation status of crash avoidance features and other in-vehicle safety systems.
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Expert Interview
Being a Westat Field Data Collector Changed Breanne Beals’ LifeFebruary 2023
How many people can say that their job changed their life? Probably not many, but Breanne Beals, who was a field data collector at Westat…
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Perspective
Westat Field Data Collectors: Collecting Data to Improve LivesDecember 2022
Field data collectors are a vital part of research. They gather data from study respondents or make observations that, ultimately, help inform policymakers about what…
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Perspective
CAVI: A Cost-Effective, Efficient Data Collection ToolJune 2022
Westat staff were proud to be able to present one of the Innovation Spotlights at the recent 77th Annual Conference of the American Association for…
What is the job of a field data collector?
Westat data collectors are the critical front line, obtaining the data at the source. Depending on the survey, positions and assignments vary. Select a position title shown below to find out more.
Westat Data Collectors
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Field interviewers conduct interviews with selected respondents in person. These interviews will be conducted using either computer-assisted or paper questionnaires, depending on study requirements. Field interviewers are responsible for contacting respondents at homes, businesses, or schools to conduct the interviews.
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Listers may record addresses for household surveys at residential structures such as houses, apartment buildings, and mobile homes, or they may record addresses and short descriptions for commercial structures such as shopping centers, office buildings, restaurants, and other nonresidential buildings.
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Assessors administer standardized tests, most frequently to children in schools, though other settings and respondents may be included.
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Medical abstractors usually conduct their work at hospitals and doctor’s offices. Abstractors review medical records and record information from the files as specified by the study protocol.
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These positions range from performing clerical work, to observing behavior (e.g., observing seat belt use), to health professionals conducting medical examinations.
There is so much that I enjoy with my job. I like the freedom of working my own hours. I like weekly paychecks. I like my participants so much I can say they are family.
Debra Powell[People] participate because they realize that what they have to say will make a difference in our nation and, ultimately, in the world.
Heidi SchlusingWhat I most enjoy about my job is the fact that every day is different and every scenario is unique. This keeps things interesting and makes every day feels like a brand new experience.
Dwayne WrightWhen a [person] understands the value of their participation in the study and sees the data already in use, their perception changes—for the positive!
Mary Ann St. JohnI love getting to know the participants and their families. They share their lives with me, the good, the bad, and the ugly. The connection to them and their lives makes my life richer.
Helene StoakI enjoy being part of a study that is helpful to improving health of all age groups, that provides a scientific foundation to many topics in the news, and that people genuinely see as valuable.
Steve Moss