History. The Research Institute for Mindanao Culture (RIMCU) was founded in 1957 by Rev. Francis C. Madigan, S.J. It was originally established to focus research on social science questions along the fields of sociology, demography, anthropology, economics, history, and political science, through exploratory, descriptive, or experimental study designs.
RIMCU is an interdisciplinary and socially responsible research institute that upholds the integrity of social justice and sustainable development, following the mission, vision, and goals of Xavier University.
Vision. RIMCU envisions a dynamic Philippines in general, and Mindanao in particular, characterized by unity of culturally diverse peoples, economic growth and equity, and balanced ecology.
Mission. It commits itself to nation-building and to the larger endeavor of international solidarity.
Goals. The Institute pursues academic and research excellence, professionalism, and humane interaction with its network of relationships in a gender-fair and empowering environment. It seeks to contribute to social transformation and development through research, training, and advocacy.
Objectives of the Institute. RIMCU is a research arm of Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. Together with the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, RIMCU serves as a resource and training center for individuals, groups and institutions concerned with social topics and issues. As such, RIMCU is guided by the following major objectives at every available opportunity:
· Pursuit of professional, holistic and multi-disciplinary investigation of the human dimensions of development;
· Provision of training programs for junior and senior-level personnel who are interested in research techniques, statistical analysis, and computer applications;
· Promotion of the exchange and dissemination of social science findings through various outreach activities, such as meetings, conferences, and research publications;
· Provision of consultancy and advisory services concerning current issues, research techniques, training programs and development projects to various governmental and non-governmental agencies; and
· Establishment of linkages with other non-governmental organizations to encourage and expand cooperation and collaborative endeavors in addressing urgent issues of human development.
· Involvement in developing action or ameliorative projects to address poverty, inequality and peace issues in Mindanao and the country.
Facilities and Manpower Resources
To date, RIMCU has acquired state-of-the-art facilities and related technologies which include: computer units, fax, mimeographing, photocopying, risograph machines and statistical packages/tools. Occupying the entire fourth floor and part of the fifth floor of the Social Science Building, RIMCU has a training hall, field operations office, a data processing room, a library, and a publications center.
Moreover, RIMCU has access to the university facilities, and is hooked-up to the university internet server as well as to other internet service providers in the city. The list of RIMCU full-time, part-time and affiliate researchers is given in table below.
This list includes both current full-time and part-time personnel of RIMCU. Click to view list here.
RIMCU has a pool of supervisors, fieldworkers and interviewers with an average of 10 years of experience in data gathering. A total of 50 interviewers are on call and work on per project basis. They are all conversant in English, Pilipino/Tagalog, and Cebuano/Boholano. In addition to these, some are articulate in Ilonggo (Hiligaynon), Antiqueňo (Kinaray-a), Maranao, Bicolano and Ilocano. Together with the Research Associates, these of supervisors, fieldworkers and interviewers have covered the different provinces of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
The Management of the Institute. The signatory of all research contracts is the Institute Director who is the chief officer of the Research Institute. He has command responsibility for decisions implementing policies and directives of the Research Institute. Accordingly, managerial and administrative activities are among the main functions of the Director. The term of office of the Director is three years, renewable.
The Senior Research Associates are generally members of the Institute who have been engaged for some time in Institute research. They have good experiential knowledge of research and most of them have a Ph.D. in some social science specialization (sociology, anthropology, economics, education, etc.). They direct and participate in on-going research and are responsible in supervising the data processing of their research project including the analysis of the results, reporting and dissemination of the results of the study. They also plan, design and initiate research proposals which RIMCU submits to funding agencies, national and foreign.
All funds of all projects proposed under the Research Institute name are deposited with the RIMCU accounting office and duly released by the same accounting office according to the terms of the contracted proposal.
Experiences
Some Experiences in Projects and Activities. More than 600 research undertakings have been successfully completed and disseminated by RIMCU. These covered a wide range of interests which include among others: operations research on health; sexual and reproductive health and rights; demographic studies on mortality, fertility and migration; socio-economic and cultural determinants of development process; women concern and gender relations; poverty and employment-related issues; ecological and environmental concerns; peace and ethnic relations; governance and democratization; program/project monitoring and evaluation; and anthropological studies on lumad/indigenous people.
Researches conducted were either institutional or individual. The latter is either a response to call for research proposal or a negotiated arrangement with funding agencies. In which case, the focal researcher/project director is the one who conceptualizes, and designs the entire research process, determines the sampling design, constructs and pretest instruments, selects and trains the interviewers and supervisors, designs the data processing operations and does the data analysis and report-writing.
Experiences in Demographic, Health Related and Other Types of Studies. During its early years, most of the demographic studies at RIMCU (fertility, mortality, migration) were quantitative. Subsequently, nearly all of the studies (family planning, health, peace, poverty, etc.) undertaken by RIMCU utilized the qualitative and quantitative mix. For instance, in family planning and reproductive health operations researches, problems were identified through household survey followed by application of various data collection methods like situation analysis, in-depth interview of service providers, observation of care-giving practices, and Focus Group Discussions. In health related studies, the case study approach and community fora were also used in data gathering.
Experiences on Evaluation Research. Evaluation research studies undertaken by RIMCU commonly utilized qualitative and quantitative approaches. Triangulation of data collection methods is widely practiced. For instance, in evaluating development programs, household surveys are usually complemented by the examination of existing records, service statistics, and published materials, and by the application of various qualitative data collection methodologies like in-depth interview of key informants, follow-up of insight stimulating examples, Focus Group Discussions and Participatory Rapid Appraisal.
Data Management Capacity. RIMCU has more than 30 computer units. All RIMCU research associates are adept in using SPSS software. In most data processing operation, SPSS Version 11 and 12 are used extensively. Other software package and latest version of spreadsheet, data-bases and word processing package are installed in RIMCU’s computer units.
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