Overview
Social research is very crucial to explore almost all areas of human behavior to gain a greater understanding of individuals and societies and how to help them make better choices. It helps in gathering, analysing and interpreting information for a variety of social, economic and policy purposes. In today’s context, policy-making processes routinely incorporate social scientists and social science research findings as part of the functions that determines policy choices.
The Challenge
A leading multilateral international organization with a global presence wanted to understand the issues faced by youngsters in Sudan. The project was a youth-focused study to help the ministry of sport and youth formulating a new policy for youth development and also assess in putting programmatic recommendations for the organization. The key objectives the research tried to uncover were
- Feelings and motivations around migration, the risks associated and views on what role these play in decisions to migrate or not
- Youth and their in engagement with civil society / and their community and what could be done to improve participation and engagement, what could be done by government?
- Educational deficits and constraints in the current situation
The Approach
A mix of qualitative and quantitative studies was used. The initial hypothesis was discovered through the qualitative focus groups, which were used as inputs to develop the quantitative tool to validate it. The project covered youth in three cities in Sudan (Nyala, Kassala, and Khartoum) and in both rural and urban areas.
Client Impact
Based on the research understanding, the client was able to give actionable recommendations to the government on how to improve communication with youngsters and also to keep them engaged. The study also pointed out challenges youngsters faced in education and employment and possible ways to overcome the same.