UKZN Academic gives Presentation at 2015 Economic Research Conference

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Why longitudinal studies matter in African history, was the focus of a presentation by senior lecturer and academic leader in the IPA Cluster at the School of Social Sciences, Dr Bheki Mngomezulu.

Presenting  his research paper at the 2015 Economic Research Southern Africa (ERSA) conference in Stellenbosch, Mngomezulu made compelling arguments on why it is important for  academics  specialising in African history to understand and use longitudinal studies in their research.

Citing examples from different historical themes in African history, he presented a theoretical understanding about the value of longitudinal studies and longitudinal data in African history.

‘One of the objectives of academic fields such as economics and economic history is to strive to understand change in individual circumstances and behaviour across time.

‘In that sense, African history cannot be shielded from such change. On the contrary, it should follow the same route that other disciplines are taking and conduct longitudinal studies with the view to understand change over time and how such change affects society,’ he said.

Mngomezulu noted that over the last 30 years there had been a number of notable developments in statistical methodologies for longitudinal data analysis aimed at aiding researchers across academic disciplines.

‘Unlike before when methodologies were lacking, statisticians as well as other empirical researchers are now able to access a sophisticated toolbox of methods to enable them to handle longitudinal data. This makes researchers  more efficient in their activities. 

'If African historians were reluctant to conduct longitudinal studies and use longitudinal data due to lack of resources and skills, this reasoning does not hold anymore,’ he noted.

Mngomezulu believes that longitudinal data permits analysis of duration and also facilitates the measurement of differences as well as changes which occur in a variable from one period to another,  while at the same time testing the direction and magnitude of causal relationships.

He said there were many obstacles that were likely to emerge along the way with longitudinal studies. ‘In the African context, it is a known fact that most researchers - especially those based at the institutions of higher learning - rely on foreign sources of funding.

‘This means that before any longitudinal study is embarked upon, the Researcher needs to first establish the length of the funding received so that the study can not be abandoned half-way. Another point worth noting is that to collect longitudinal data one needs computer skills. This means that any researcher who does not have these skills would have to collaborate with those who possess such skills to ensure positive results.’

Mngomezulu feels that African history needs longitudinal studies in order to tackle certain topics more efficiently than had been done to-date using other types of studies deemed conventional. With the evidently complex nature of longitudinal studies, he recommended that more financial resources should be raised before any longitudinal study was started.

He highlighted that in order to maximise the results of longitudinal studies there needed to be more investment in human capital.

‘It would be unwise to collect longitudinal data without having skilled people who can analyse and interpret such data properly and present clear and concrete results. Longitudinal studies have gradually taken their position in the research community.

‘All that is left is to train researchers and provide the necessary resources to enable longitudinal studies to prosper even further. African history stands to benefit from the proposed repositioning of African studies,’ he added.

Melissa Mungroo