Research associate, policy vs research consultant

The differences between research associates, policy and research consultants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a research associate, policy and a research consultant. Additionally, a research consultant has an average salary of $83,492, which is higher than the $69,079 average annual salary of a research associate, policy.

The top three skills for a research associate, policy include public policy, policy research and research projects. The most important skills for a research consultant are data collection, medicaid, and business development.

Research associate, policy vs research consultant overview

	Research Associate, Policy	Research Consultant
Yearly salary	$69,079	$83,492
Hourly rate	$33.21	$40.14
Growth rate	19%	19%
Number of jobs	49,112	61,865
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age	37	37
Years of experience	6	6

What does a research associate, policy do?

A research associate monitors the progress of research projects and coordinates information between departmental sections. They perform a wide and complex variety of assays, tests, and studies, as well as performing highly specialized and advanced experiments. Their duties and responsibilities also include preparing material for submission to departments or organizations, replying to research emails, and requesting necessary equipment.

What does a research consultant do?

A research consultant is an individual who is responsible for collecting and analyzing multiple types of data across a variety of formats and present research reports for research and analytics companies, public institutions, and private businesses. Research consultants are required to design research strategies to complete the needs of research projects as well as create a basic plan of action for finding data. They may use online resources, phone surveys, and other data-collection methods to find and collect data. Research consultants must also assign investigative teams to verify and double-check the collected data.

Research associate, policy vs research consultant salary

Research associates, policy and research consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Research Associate, Policy	Research Consultant
Average salary	$69,079	$83,492
Salary range	Between $46,000 And $102,000	Between $60,000 And $115,000
Highest paying City	Olympia, WA	New York, NY
Highest paying state	Washington	New York
Best paying company	RAND	Microsoft
Best paying industry	Health Care	Education

Differences between research associate, policy and research consultant education

There are a few differences between a research associate, policy and a research consultant in terms of educational background:

	Research Associate, Policy	Research Consultant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common major	Political Science	Psychology
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Georgia

Research associate, policy vs research consultant demographics

Here are the differences between research associates, policy' and research consultants' demographics:

	Research Associate, Policy	Research Consultant
Average age	37	37
Gender ratio	Male, 49.3% Female, 50.7%	Male, 48.2% Female, 51.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.3% Asian, 14.3% White, 64.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 4.7% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 14.0% White, 65.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between research associate, policy and research consultant duties and responsibilities

Research associate, policy example responsibilities.

Manage all issues relate to high quality survey administration including training and approval/certification, performance oversight and data collection.
Conduct analysis of international climate change implications and participate in the selection of tools for government agencies to monitor climate change.
Mouse colony maintenance: breeding and genotyping mice to maintain an active colony of multiple transgenic lines.
Supervise activities of investigators and associates to ensure compliance with protocols, FDA regulations and overall clinical objectives.

Research consultant example responsibilities.

Lead research team in IRB transition from traditional hard copy submission to electronic submission.
Develop an SQL solution to automate performance attribution reports.
Attain and practice medical insurance information rapidly and correctly; including main carriers and Medicaid.
Design and oversee implementation of decision-analytic models and database analyses using SAS, SPSS, and STATA.
Pull, merge data by using SAS, and assign tags.
Isolate, purify and quantify DNA from human blood.

Research associate, policy vs research consultant skills

Common research associate, policy skills

Public Policy, 19%
Policy Research, 16%
Research Projects, 7%
Stata, 4%
Government Agencies, 4%
Policy Analysis, 4%

Common research consultant skills

Data Collection, 12%
Medicaid, 8%
Business Development, 6%
Study Design, 5%
Data Analysis, 5%
Survey Design, 5%

Research Associate, Policy vs. similar jobs

Research Associate, Policy related careers

Research Associate, Policy related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Business and Financial Industry
Research Associate, Policy
Research Associate, Policy vs Research Consultant

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse business and financial jobs