About the Summer Training Programme

UCT Summer Training Programme in Social Science Research Using Survey Data

Each January since 1999, SALDRU has run a 2-week workshop designed for university students or graduates seeling further training in statistics and survey analysis. It is targeted at those who are entering a post-graduate programme in the social sciences, or those employed in a government or private sector position that requires frequent interaction with social statistics.

The workshop has three major components:

1. Introduction to household surveys
   You will learn how and why surveys are collected, the logic of sampling, overviews of the major household surveys in South Africa, and how surveys can be used to address policy issues.
2. Overview of basic descriptive statistics
   This includes the creation of frequency distributions, measures of central tendency, dispersion and inequality, and a discussion of the issues encountered when generating statistics from survey data.
3. Hands-on instruction in the analysis of survey data using Stata
   This will involve reading and exploring data, creating graphs and tables and undertaking basic statistical analysis, including regressions.

The workshop will use data from the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS), a nationally representative survey. Through daily lectures and hands-on computer labs, instructors from UCT will show participants how to use Stata to address substantive social science research questions. By the end of the workshop, participants should feel comfortable working with NIDS, the PSLSD, the DHS, the October and General Household Surveys, and the South African Census.