From: CODESRIA Information [mailto:info@codesria.sn]
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 2:14 PM
To: CODESRIA Information
Subject: CODESRIA Methodology Workshop Series: Training of Trainers - Theme: Quantitative and Qualitative Methods in Social Science Research - Dakar, Senegal, 22 - 26 November, 2010
CODESRIA Methodology Workshop Series
Training of Trainers
Theme: Quantitative and Qualitative Methods in Social Science Research
Date: 22 – 26 November, 2010
Venue: Dakar, Senegal
Call for Applications
Are you a lecturer in an African university? Are you in charge of the teaching of courses on research methods? If so, this announcement is for you.
The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa is pleased to announce its initiative targeted at those members of the African social science research community who have responsibility in their universities for teaching undergraduate and graduate-level courses in social science research methods. Over the last one and a half decades, in cognisance of the multi-faceted crises confronting the African higher education system in general and the universities in particular, CODESRIA has invested itself in offering platforms for postgraduate students and mid-career professionals to be trained in quantitative and qualitative research methods.
Organised as advanced research seminars at which participants are exposed to various methodological techniques and their roots in the history and philosophy of science, the first set of such training opportunities centred on quantitative research methods, and over the last few years, the emphasis was shifted to qualitative research methods. CODESRIA organises five research methodology workshops every year, one per sub-region, and one for countries just coming out of conflict situations. In the context of the decentralisation of the management of the workshops to various university and advanced research centres, the Council now also organises an annual advanced Training of Trainers Methodology Workshop, bringing together those who are responsible for equipping others with the basic skills they need in order to be successful researchers.
The rationale behind all CODESRIA methodology workshops remains the same. As a field of knowledge, quantitative and qualitative methods have a specialist status which only few social scientists have fully to mastered, in terms of both its technical details and philosophical underpinnings. Also, the field of social science research methods has undergone a considerable amount of evolution, marked by increasing improvements in the tools and techniques available to the researcher; and yet, historically, it is an area of pedagogy that was relatively weak in African social research. The weakness was exacerbated by the massive brain drain that affected the university system in the aftermath of the crises in the university system in the recent past. This development constituted a major disadvantage for the younger generation of social researchers, with serious attendant implications for the overall quality of research carried out. Remedying the gap became a matter of urgent concern, and the Training of Trainers programme represents the latest in the series of interventions developed by CODESRIA, launched in the context of the organic inter-connection between the research purpose of the university system and the mandate and programmatic strategy of the Council.
The 2010 edition of the Training of Trainers Workshop will involve about 25 participants, selected from various universities across the continent. The workshop will be conducted in English and French. In addition to the presentations that would be made by invited resource persons, the workshop will also serve as a forum for close interaction and networking among the participants so that, beyond the formal sessions, they would be able to continue to share experiences on a continuous basis. There will also be practical lecture-room exercises, while each session will be facilitated by a convenor who will be assisted by three resource persons. The workshop will be run for five working days. Each participant will be given access to the latest materials – electronic and non-electronic – available on research methods. Presentations will also be made on the philosophy of science.
Interested applicants for the 2010 edition are hereby invited to each submit a written application, a copy of their course outline, a short write-up on the major problems they encounter in teaching their methodology classes, a letter of attestation from their departmental heads or faculty deans, indicating that they teach courses in methodology, and a copy of their latest curriculum vitae. Those interested in being considered to serve as convenors or resource persons are also invited to each send a short letter of application, a copy of their curriculum vitae, a copy of the outline of issues they wish to cover in their presentations, and a sample of one or more of their most recent publication (s).
All applications must be received at the CODESRIA Secretariat by 15 October, 2010. Applications should be addressed to:
The CODESRIA Training of Trainers Methodology Programme
CODESRIA Secretariat
BP 3304, Dakar, CP 18524, Senegal
Tel.: +221-33 825 98 22/23
Fax: +221-33 824 12 89
E-mail: training.trainers@codesria.sn
Website: http://www.codesria.org
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