Afrobarometer hosts summer school in Pretoria for next generation of African researchers
In partnership with Future Africa at the University of Pretoria, Afrobarometer has launched its latest English-language summer school aimed at equipping African scholars with solid skills to analyse citizens’ socio-economic and political concerns.
The free training program, running in November 2022 in Pretoria, provides a rare opportunity for African researchers in government and non-governmental organisations, policy actors, and postgraduate students to hone their skills in data analysis and use.
They will also receive instruction in theories and practices of public opinion survey research on democracy, governance, and related topics.
Their work will draw on more than two decades of survey data collected by Afrobarometer across the African continent.
The three-week course includes 31 participants from 13 countries chosen from among 550 applications. More than half (58%) are women.
“Afrobarometer is pleased to welcome a cohort of exceptional young talents,” said Dominique Dryding, capacity building manager for Afrobarometer.
“We are thrilled to provide hands-on training to empower the next generation of African scholars and help address the continent’s needs for highly skilled African data researchers. In a world increasingly dependent on credible data, these skills are needed more than ever.”
The Pretoria edition continues Afrobarometer’s long summer-school tradition and follows its successful French-language summer school at Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, Senegal, in August.
“I am extremely excited to attend this year’s Afrobarometer summer school hosted in Pretoria,” said Monique Bennett, senior researcher for Good Governance Africa.
“My hope is that the training will help strengthen my ability to analyse survey data across topics such as conflict, migration, and elections whilst guiding me on the process of writing an Afrobarometer publication. Afrobarometer provides an important platform for early-career African academics like myself, so I am honoured to be part of the training, and potentially reach publication.”
Afrobarometer is a pan-African, non-partisan survey research network that provides reliable data on African experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance, and quality of life.
Eight survey rounds in up to 39 countries have been completed since 1999. Round 9 surveys (2021/2022) are currently underway.
Afrobarometer’s national partners conduct face-toface interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice with nationally representative samples of 1,200-2,400.
