Research
The Unit can be contracted by any third party – private or public – to conduct research on its behalf, on any issues relating to communities and community development.
Examples of consultancy research projects in the past three years:
Monitoring and evaluation of HIV training programme in South Africa, for EMPACT Africa (2011-)
EMPACT Africa is a USA-based NGO doing HIV-training with church leaders in Africa. The URDR is assisting them in developing the research tools and protocol to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of these trainings, specifically on HIV stigma, on an individual and congregational level. The project will continue until 2013.
Evaluation of the Channels of Hope (CoH) methodology and programming in the Middle East, Eastern Europe Regional context, for World Vision (2011)
The research was a summative evaluation to discover lessons learnt from the application of CoH in the MEER region. Conducting primary research and fieldwork in three countries (Russia, Romania and Armenia), secondary evaluation of four countries (Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lebanon and Afghanistan), and extensive in-house document review, the evaluation assessed the methodology, its application and appropriateness, giving recommendations for future programming and implementation. Training and management of on-site evaluation teams and individuals was part of the evaluation process.
Tearfund UK
Research on the role of the church in Burundi in care and prevention of sexual violence during armed conflict (2011)
This study was conducted in Burundi with the help of a trained locally-based fieldworker. Research tool development, training, data analysis and report writing (including suggestions for strategic policies and interventions) were done by the URDR.
Explorative baseline on the role of the church in sexual violence in areas of armed conflict, conducted in the DRC, Rwanda, and Liberia (2010)
The study was conducted within the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Liberia. The URDR was responsible for the design and implementation of the research methodology and tools (interviewing at least 100 people in each country and liaising with various local organisations), as well as for a comprehensive research report, including possible strategic policies and interventions.
Anglican AIDS and Healthcare Trust
Countrywide impact survey on the knowledge, behaviour and attitudes of South African Anglican youth regarding sexuality and HIV&AIDS for the Anglican Aids and Healthcare Trust (2010)
The URDR was responsible for questionnaire design, sample design, the training of fieldworkers, management of data capturing and processing, and a research report compiling the data and findings.
Youth skills audit for Witzenberg Municipality, South Africa (2009)
The URDR was responsible for the training of fieldworkers as well as compiling a detailed research report, including possible strategic policies and interventions.
Some consultancy research projects from further in the URDR’s past:
- The Transformation Research Project, with Transformation Africa, doing comprehensive demographic research in the Cape Peninsula
- Safety audits for the Department of Community Safety
- Socio-economic profiling of the Stellenbosch Municipal area, for the Stellenbosch Municipality
- A bi-lateral South African-Swedish research project on welfare and religion in a global perspective, funded by the SA National Research Foundation (NRF), the Swedish Research Council (VR) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)
Want to have research done?
Contact us to discuss the possibilities.
Download reports of the Tearfund research projects on sexual violence during armed conflict and the role of the church
http://www.wewillspeakout.org
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News
The URDR again receives Community Interaction Flagship Status after external evaluation!
At the end of 2011 SU Community Interaction Flagship Projects were reviewed by external evaluators. After a rigorous evaluation process the URDR was again awarded Flagship Status. Read more about this at Community Interaction.
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