CENTRE FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH
CHANCELLOR COLLEGE
ABOUT CSR
From the Office of the Director
Welcome to the website of the Centre for Social Research, the research arm of the Faculty of Social Science at Chancellor College, a constituent college of the University of Malawi (UNIMA). Our Centre has a Board which is chaired by the Dean of Faculty of Social Science but its membership comprises Heads of Departments in the Faculty of Social Science and Directors of the Centre for Educational Research and Training (CERT), Natural Resources and Environmental Centre (NAREC) and Centre for Language Studies (CLS) at Chancellor College and the Centre for Agricultural Research and Development (CARD) at Bunda College of Agriculture and the National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST). All permanent staff of the centre are paid by the UNIMA but we operate autonomously in terms of our day-to-day operations.
For more than 30 years, the CSR has provided leadership in the conduct of research and consultancies in the social sciences in Malawi and has generated evidence for formulation of policies and interventions. The need for the generation of research evidence to inform the development of policies and programs will continue and CSR’s experience and skills will contribute to addressing the challenges that Malawi continues to experience. These challenges include widespread environmental degradation, poverty, food insecurity, high illiteracy rates, high child mortality, high fertility rates and associated population growth and low life expectancy mainly due to the impacts of the HIV and AIDS epidemic.
In 2012, we drafted our Strategic Plan for the years 2012-2015 which is a blue print of the strategic direction that our Centre intends to follow especially as we strive to balance between client-driven research to being more proactive in the generation of research projects. It is my hope that you will find our website very useful and resourceful to your needs and the needs of your work. Let me take this special opportunity to thank you for sparing your time to visit our website.
As we continue with our research work, we hope to benefit a lot from your observations, criticisms and suggestions on how we can improve both the website and our work. We expect to get your feedback through the contacts shown on this page and the rest of the pages.
​
Dr. Alister Munthali
​DIRECTOR
Our Philosophy
Our philosophy is six prongned as follows:
-
To continue champioing social science research in Malawi and sub-Sharan Africa
-
To use our research evidence in guiding and catalysing policy debates rather than political inclinations
-
To contribute towars the generation of future leadership that is focussed on national priorities
-
To remain indepedent of any political influence or societal pressures in our research work
-
To promote partnerships with both the private and public sectors
-
To accept only professional errors in the manner we report and present our research findings
​
Our History
The Centre for Social Research (CSR) was set up by the Senate of the University of Malawi in 1971 as an Institute of Social Research and its mandate was to conduct interdisciplinary and problem-solving research, organise conferences and seminars and develop local teaching materials. In 1979, following discussions between the Government of Malawi (GoM), the UNIMA and UNICEF, the Institute changed its name to CSR. Its focus became narrower as its primary objectives were to appraise, monitor and evaluate UNICEF-assisted projects in Malawi and to organise seminars and workshops for GoM personnel engaged in planning, data collection and analysis and project evaluation. By early 1990s, the CSR started providing similar services to the private and non-government. Since then, CSR has evolved tremendously from be client-driven to being proactive in research generation
​
