Building a New Generation of Social Scientists
The success of the CSSR depends on developing interest and skills among students in the production and critical analysis of survey data. The SSU contributes to building a new generation of social scientists in a number of ways.
First, we have drawn growing numbers of students into working on our surveys, especially the Cape Area Panel Study (CAPS) and Cape Area Study (CAS). Students have worked with us as interviewers, in quality control, and in fieldwork management, acquiring skills at the same time as earning a steady income. During 2004 about one dozen senior undergraduate and graduate students have been working on CAPS, and several more on CAS. Our goal is that students working on our surveys should spend no more than one-half of their time in survey fieldwork and management, and at least one-half of their time in the critical analysis of survey data. It has proved difficult to achieving this balance, primarily because there are always more tasks to do in maintaining quality in a large panel study. We shall be using vacations to encourage student interest and skill in the critical analysis of survey data.
The SSU also provides scholarships to students working on topics that are of interest to us, especially when they are using data we have collected. Since 2001 we have awarded scholarships or other financial support to students from a range of disciplines. Almost all of our scholarships are not for students working on CAPS and CAS.
Thirdly, we have sought to introduce more use of survey data into the undergraduate curriculum. The Humanities faculty offers an impressive range of graduate courses, but at the undergraduate level survey methodology tends to be segregated into specialist research courses. In 2003-04 undergraduate classes in sociology used data from CAPS, and undergraduate students in political studies used CAS data. Although some students lack the basic numeracy skills to cope with even the simplest analysis of survey data, others have produced excellent research papers. The SSU also assists in the CSSR's masters-level course in 'Problem-Driven Social and Economic Research' (SOC525X).
Fourthly, we have covered the research expenses of selected students doing interesting and innovative projects. For example, one visiting undergraduate student did a fascinating survey of car-drivers in central Cape Town, to probe perceptions of informal 'car guards' or parking attendants. The results, published as Working Paper no.55, were widely reported in the press.
The SSU also initiated a scheme for Junior Research Fellows, most of whom have been postgraduate students taking a temporary break from formal studies but wanting to be involved in research.
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