News Releases

Data Deficiency an impediment to Caribbean Development

For Release Upon Receipt - April 20, 2011

St. Augustine


Data are the lifeblood of the Social Sciences. Without them we cannot test hypotheses, measure phenomena and, most importantly, plan for development.  There are, however, serious gaps in Caribbean data which, if they persist, will be an impediment to Caribbean development. Professor Patrick K Watson, University Director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social & Economic Studies (SALISES) and Professor of Applied Economics at The University of the West Indies (UWI), will address this issue at the next UWI Professorial Inaugural Lecture. On Thursday 28th April, 2011, Professor Watson will deliver his presentation entitled, Data Deficiency and Development: an Unresolved Caribbean Dilemma, at the Engineering Lecture Theatre #1, Block 13, Faculty of Engineering, St. Augustine Campus from 5:30pm.

Data are what Social Scientists lack the most and this is particularly true in the Caribbean and other developing areas where, arguably, they are most needed. Professor Watson’s presentation will look at the techniques available to combat the problems of data deficiency (which relate to issues of both quality and quantity of the data) to achieve more adequate data sets. Through his segment, Professor Watson will seek to elaborate on the dilemma and propose solutions. 

Professor Patrick K. Watson served as Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the St. Augustine Campus from 1995 to 2003. He holds a Master’s and a Doctoral degree in Mathematical Economics and Econometrics from the Université de Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne) and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Leeds. His work in the area of theoretical and applied econometrics, with emphasis on the Caribbean Economy has been widely published. 

Guests at this Professorial Inaugural Lecture will be welcomed by Professor Terence Seemungal, Chair of the UWI Open Lectures Committee, and hear opening remarks by Professor Clement Sankat, the St. Augustine Campus Principal. Professor Watson’s lecture will be followed by an open discussion.  

This lecture is free and open to the public. 

For further information, please contact the UWI Marketing and Communications Office, at 662-2002 exts. 2013 and 2323.

 

About UWI

Over the last six decades, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged University with over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest and most longstanding higher education provider in the English-speaking Caribbean, with main campuses in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and Centres in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Christopher (St Kitts) & Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent & the Grenadines. UWI recently launched its Open Campus, a virtual campus with over 50 physical site locations across the region, serving over 20 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean. UWI is an international university with faculty and students from over 40 countries and collaborative links with over 60 universities around the world. Through its seven Faculties, UWI offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Pure & Applied Sciences, Science and Agriculture, and Social Sciences.

 

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