Dr. Jen Scott Invited to Participate in Remarkable Research Institute Program

May 7, 2018 

Baton Rouge, LA – School of Social Work Assistant Professor, Dr. Jennifer Scott, has been selected to participate in the Summer Institute in Migration Research Methods, held at the University of California Berkeley.

The eight-day program will take place in late June and will cover a handful of topics, including data analysis as it relates to legal status, best practices for studying immigrant and mobile populations, and the use of new data sources in migration studies. Over 200 Ph.D. students, postdoctoral researchers and faculty applied for the program, and Dr. Scott is one of 30 applicants invited to participate.

Dr. Scott was inspired by the researchers leading the workshops whom she “greatly admires,” as they share common data analysis methods being discussed during the program.

“The training offers an opportunity to be exposed to and learn some new interesting methods, and get to know high quality researchers in the field,” she said. “This program will help me improve the rigor of my data analysis methods I already use to understand the experiences of immigrants, as well as expose me to new ones.”

According to the Institute’s website, the purpose of the Summer Institute is to train a new generation of U.S. migration researchers to leverage existing datasets and learn best-practices for rigorous, new data-collection projects, as well as to provide instruction in cutting edge methodologies particularly relevant to the study of mobile populations.

Dr. Scott’s research focuses on the experiences of people in poverty and immigrants in navigating their economic and social lives, as well as on the broader trends and sociopolitical determinants of poverty, inequality and migration. She is particularly interested in the strategies individuals, families and communities use to make ends meet, in particular those rooted in collaboration or collective action and those developed in response to crisis or disaster.

Dr. Scott believes the Institute will better prepare her to apply her research methods to Louisiana’s struggling poverty rates.

“Louisiana has a vibrant immigrant community, as well as ranks unfortunately high nationally on indicators of poverty and inequality,” she said. “This [program] will help me understand the most current methods for understanding how to analyze migration and think more about how these concepts intersect in Louisiana, as well as in a broader context.”

 

About SSW

The LSU School of Social Work (SSW) aspires to be a leading graduate school of social work, a vibrant center of intellectual development, a leader in promoting and supporting diverse communities, and an advocate for an integrated and inclusive model of social work, all within a learning environment that supports best educational practices. The SSW offers a Child and Family Studies (CFS) undergraduate degree, MSW, online MSW, and PhD. SSW is part of the College of Human Sciences & Education.

Visit the School of Social Work at lsu.edu/chse/socialwork.

 

About CHSE

The College of Human Sciences & Education (CHSE) is a nationally accredited division of Louisiana State University. The college is comprised of the School of Education, the School of Leadership & Human Resource Development, the School of Kinesiology, the School of Information Studies, the School of Social Work, and the University Laboratory School. These combined schools offer 8 undergraduate degree programs, 18 graduate programs, and 7 online graduate degree programs, enrolling more than 2,020 undergraduate and 879 graduate students. The College is committed to achieving the highest standards in teaching, research, and service and is committed to improving quality of life across the lifespan.

Visit the College of Human Science & Education at lsu.edu/chse.