Since its establishment in 2001, SMERU has been a leader in socioeconomic research in Indonesia. SMERU conducts qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies on various socioeconomic issues. In addition, SMERU supports inclusive public and private sector policy discourses through development policy analysis and its potential impact.

With 18 years of experience in the field of socioeconomic research and supported by human resources who have extensive knowledge, SMERU feels the need to take part in a capacity building system that involves various relevant stakeholders.

In line with the Institute’s spirit of knowledge sharing, on 19–20 September 2019, SMERU was entrusted by KOMPAK and the Directorate of Regional Financial Management and Information Evaluation, Ministry of Finance, to become facilitators of capacity building workshop on the methodology of the regional budget constraint analysis study for the Directorate General of Fiscal Balance in Jakarta. The workshop aims to

1. Provide trainees with an understanding of local governments’ need for analysis that can be done independently with a simple and easy way.
2. Explore appropriate study methods for regional budget analysis, including the process of formulating data collection instruments, both primary (e.g., interviews) and secondary, quantitative and qualitative analyses, and drawing conclusions from the analysis.
3. Practice using the analysis methodology in the process of analyzing the regional budget and financial sector performances based on the data obtained.

In the two-day workshop session, the participants were given theoretical and practical materials on the ins and outs of research, the basics of research methodology, various research designs, formulation of research instruments, data collection techniques, data processing, and research report writing techniques.

On the first day, the workshop started with a pretest to find out the participants’ initial competencies. Then Nina Toyamah, Head of SMERU Research Department, presented an introduction to research, followed by Rendy A. Diningrat who explained about the basics of research methods. The first day's session ended with theoretical and practical material on the formulation of research objectives and research instruments by Palmira Permata Bachtiar.

The second day began with the theory and practice of qualitative data collection techniques facilitated by Asep Kurniawan. After that, Nina Toyamah gave an explanation of how to process qualitative data. The participants were given the opportunity to conduct a qualitative data processing simulation. Finally, the entire session was closed with the technique of writing a research report by Wiwin Purbaningrum.

To view photo documentation of the workshop, visit The SMERU Research Institute Facebook page.

Visit the SMERU website (http://www.smeru.or.id/en/services) to get information about our services. Information about how to contact us can be seen at http://www.smeru.or.id/en/contact.