Addressing Poverty, One Data Point at a Time
The "Poverty in Tucson Field Workshop" course involves UA students in data collection and analysis, addressing issues associated with poverty in the local region.

By Lori Harwood, UA College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Dec. 15, 2014


This spring, University of Arizona undergraduate students taking the "Poverty in Tucson Field Workshop" course will collect, analyze, and present data on local community issues related to poverty.

The course — led by Brian Mayer, an associate professor in the UA School of Sociology, and Julia Smith, a sociology graduate student — is a continuation of a collaboration among the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, the city of Tucson and local nonprofit groups through the Mayor's Commission on Poverty.

Mayer, who is one of the inaugural fellows of the UA Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice, said the team has two major goals for the workshop course.

"We are preparing students for a career in the social sciences by offering them a unique opportunity to study an important social problem in their community," he said. "Likewise, we will provide data, analyses and interpretation to agencies, nonprofits and the community at large that we believe can help address the problem of poverty locally."

The course furthers the UA's goal of 100% Student Engagement by providing students experience in a research project with value to our community, said Lydia Breunig, director of community outreach and special projects.

"This ongoing project is a great example of how community partnerships advance the University's strategic goals," Breunig said.

During the spring of 2014, students in the "Poverty in American Cities" course interviewed about 200 low-income people in the greater Tucson area as part of a larger study that was submitted to the Mayor's Commission on Poverty. The study was conducted to help it identify and develop practical solutions to poverty in Tucson, which has one of the top 10 poverty rates among the nation's large cities.

"The course changed how I view those who are living in poverty," student Rachael Andrews said. "The people I talked to were not interested in living solely off of welfare. Rather, they were resourceful people who simply wanted to make ends meet."

As part of the collaboration, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences researchers also conducted a multicity analysis of best practices in tackling poverty. Smith led that project with former UA sociology professor Lane Kenworthy.

Students in the 2015 class will collect data on 300 low-income Tucsonans. During the 2016 course, data gathered from those Tucsonans will be pooled with the original sample, with the goal of following them over five years and honing in on certain topics such as nutrition, transportation, health and safety, and access to social services. The course will include three weeks of instruction on poverty, three weeks of field training, six weeks of field work and four weeks of data analyses.

The workshop course is being supported by gifts from Habitat for Humanity Tucson, the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona and the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.

Extra info

Students interested in joining the class "Poverty in Tucson Field Workshop" should contact Julia Smith at juliasmith@email.arizona.edu.

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Brian Mayer

UA School of Sociology

520-626-2190

brianmayer@email.arizona.edu