Post Graduate Diploma in Survey Data Analysis for Development (CG038ECO15)

DataFirst, SALDRU and the UCT School of Economics offers a one-year full time or two-year part time Post-Graduate Diploma in Survey Data Analysis for Development. The objective of the Post-Graduate Diploma is to train working professionals in the skills required to analyse a diverse set of social surveys. All courses, including the core theory courses, include theoretical and empirical applications to reflect the objectives of the degree.

Structure

The Post-Graduate Diploma in Survey Data Analysis for Development programme comprises three compulsory courses in the first semester, three compulsory courses in the second semester and a compulsory research report. The diploma runs over 12 months if undertaken full-time and 24 months if undertaken part-time. The programme comprises of 120 credits.

Compulsory courses:

Research component

The tentative timetable for 2020 is: 

Block week 1:  3.5 weeks

-  Introduction to Stata:  15 to 17 January 2020 (This course is for registered students that do not know Stata)

-  ECO4116F  Cross-sectional econometric methods:  20 to 24 January 2020

-  ECO4119S  The Analysis of Complex Surveys:  27 to 31 January 2020

-  ECO4117F  Panel data methods:  3 to 5 February 2020

Block week 2:  1 week

-  Teaching for above 3 courses:  6 to 10 April 2020

*  Examinations:  TBC

Block week 3:  3 weeks 3 to 26 June 2020

-  ECO4115S  Consumption and Micro-economic Theory  

-  ECO4118S  Applied Labour Economics

-  ECO4121S   Welfare Measurement

Block week 4:  1 week 

-  Teaching for above 3 courses.  Dates to be confirmed

   *  Examinations:  To be confirmed

-  ECO4120S  Research Project workshop and deadline:  Mid December

If students want to finish within one year they will need to hand in their project by mid December.  More details on the modules.

Entrance Requirements

A bachelor’s degree in statistics, economics or demography or

An alternative tertiary qualification plus appropriate work experience, such as the use of econometric software and data analysis, subject to the University’s RPL criteria and entrance exam.

Recommendation of acceptance is at the discretion of the Graduate Committee.

Assessment

To qualify for the PGDip, students must pass all courses including the research report to a value of 120 HEQF credits.

The research component is examined by way of a research report (30 HEQF credits) which will be due early February in the year following the coursework.

Readmission Rules

Students who fail may repeat a maximum of two courses of the coursework component once provided that they have submitted the required research report within the time-frame for submission. A compulsory course may be repeated only if the student scored at least 40% at first attempt. There will be no supplementary examinations.

Admissions

Applications need to be made via the UCT website.  In addition to completing the University application form, all students must also submit a CV, letter of motivation and the names and contact details of two referees before 31 October.  The programme begins in January.

Distinction rules

The Honours degree may be awarded in “the First Class” if a student has an overall average of at least 75%, with a subminimum of 70% for the coursework and for the research dissertation.

Background on the organisations presenting the qualification

SALDRU and DataFirst will be running this programme under the auspices of the School of Economics at the University of Cape Town. Much of the material has been successfully presented in the past as short courses.

SALDRU (The Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit) is the premier research unit analysing poverty and inequality in South Africa. SALDRU managed the first nationally representative survey run in South Africa in 1993 and is currently managing the National Income Dynamics Study on behalf of the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.

DataFirst is South Africa’s premier data service, disseminating over 200 studies to researchers throughout the world. It has run workshops on data curation and data quality for many African national statistics agencies.

The School of Economics at UCT is the top-rated Economics Department in Africa, with a particularly strong record in applied work through research units like SALDRU.

This is a SALDRU/DataFirst/School of Economics training initiative supported by Statistics South Africa.  Read some of the feedback from our students.  See what our Statistics South Africa students have to say about the diploma.