Conducting Research for Social Benefit
CSUF's Social Science Research Center helps to count the homeless
March 1, 2007
By Mimi Ko Cruz
In an effort to reduce homelessness, hundreds of volunteers took to the streets on two nights in January to count and survey the homeless in Orange County.
The numbers now are being analyzed by Cal State Fullerton’s Social Science Research Center (SSRC) and will be released to the public this spring, said Greg Robinson, center director.
The purpose of the project is to produce an accurate count that can be used by agencies to secure funding for services that help the homeless population.
The homeless count is one of many surveys the SSRC conducts that benefit the community, Robinson said. The center’s researchers provide businesses, tax-supported and nonprofit agencies and organizations and scholars with empirical data that is critical in developing and evaluating programs, advocating for change or making sound policy decisions, he said.
The SSRC, established in 1987, conducts mailed, telephone, and web-based surveys, evaluation research, needs assessments and image studies. Researchers have conducted surveys in Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, Khmer and other languages.
For more information about the SSRC, visit http://hss.fullerton.edu/ssrc
Produced by the Office of Public Affairs at California State University, Fullerton.