09 July, 2011

Is youth interested?




Gerard Boyce , an economist and PHD student at the university of Kwa-Zulu Natal, gave a talk about south African identity and youth participation in governance. He presented statistics and quantitative observation of his findings. The study was based on the youth, defined as people between the ages of 14 to 35.
He was looking to tackle to basic questions :
What are young people thinking?
Is it different from what other older citizens are thinking?

This lead to the conclusion of how South Africans are different in some aspects, but others is similar. It also concluded to how satisfaction still lacks according to the youth, in terms of deliverance even though they feel strongly about participating in the voting process.

It was an appropriate research project and it could lead to a more precise study. The points that were brought up were relevant but vague. When asked questions, his argument was not substantial. He did not personalise the views of the people involved in the statistic process.

With more research it would lead to the investigation being more convincing, yet with the lack of proper communication about the findings, people would be less informed and not clear on the objective.

This lead to a lot of controversy, but hopefully the views that were brought up will lead to a more accurate research finding that also humanises it.

by C.Pumla Luthuli

No comments: