Ye Kuang and Caoimhe Doyle win 2013 CLS dissertation prize

The CLS Dissertation prize for 2013 was awarded jointly to Ye Kuang and to Caoimhe Doyle for their outstanding research using the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS).

Ye Kuang, who received an MSc in Psychology of Education at the Institute of Education (IOE), investigated whether levels of education in the local community account for differences in children’s behaviour. Ye found that low educational attainment in the neighbourhood was associated with more behaviour problems in children. This was partly due to the parents’ own education and the home environment, but the community environment still played a role.

Caoimhe Doyle, who received an MSc in Child Development at the IOE, also analysed data from the MCS children at ages 3, 5 and 7 to investigate if the cohort members’ neighbourhoods affected their psychological adjustment. She found that children were at greater risk of developing behavioural and emotional problems if they lived in neighbourhoods with high crime, unemployment, and poor education.

Former CLS Director Heather Joshi, one of the judges, said of their work: “Both dissertations were concerned with the influence of neighbourhood in the behavioural development of children up to age 7 in the Millennium Cohort study. This is relevant to the understanding of how where a child lives may affect life-chances, and to the formulation of policies based (or not) on particular areas. Both dissertations were well-organised, used challenging statistical methods, handled complex data sets confidently and were written clearly. It would have been invidious not to split the prize.”

The CLS annual dissertation prize goes to an outstanding study by an IOE Masters student using cohort data. All such dissertations that receive a distinction are automatically entered. For more information, click here.