Linda Liebenberg, PhD, is a methodologist, whose research examines the use of both image-based methods and mixed method research designs. She also considers how these facilitate an understanding of young people in marginalized contexts, as well as how these data inform instrument development. She has published and presented internationally on resilience related themes relevant to the understanding of youth across cultures and contexts. Her publications include the co-edited volumes (with Michael Ungar, Ph.D.) Researching Resilience and Resilience in Action.
Specifically, Linda’s skills focus on the use of image-based elicitation methods within a phenomenological and grounded theory framework. She also makes extensive use of mixed-methods designs in the development of research measures. Her quantitative skill-set includes the use of multivariate data analysis techniques such as Principle Component Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling.
In 2007, she and her colleague, Michael Ungar, established the Resilience Research Centre, of which she is now co-director, at Dalhousie University, Halifax. Through networks established at the RRC, she works with an international team of resilience researchers that spans more than a dozen countries on six continents. In tandem with this work, Linda consults on various research and evaluation initiatives, advising on research design and knowledge translation. She also runs workshops on data analysis and writing.
Linda is also adjunct professor at the School of Social Work, Dalhousie University and has supervised several graduate students and taught numerous courses on research and data analysis, both at Dalhousie University and Saint Mary’s University. She has previously managed and coordinated a number of programs, including projects related to out-of-school youth in informal settlements surrounding Cape Town (Department of Educational Psychology and Specialised Education, Stellenbosch University, South Africa) and research with women on farms in the Winelands region of South Africa (Department of Psychology, Stellenbosch University).
Linda obtained a Master’s degree in Psychology (with distinction) and a Ph.D. in Social Science Research Methods at Stellenbosch University. Her dissertation reviewed the use of image-based research methods as a communication tool when conducting research with marginalized communities, specifically in the South African social research context. A case study exploring the experiences of teenage mothers living in a sub-economic community of Cape Town formed an illustrative component to her dissertation. The motivation behind the study stemmed largely from her research experiences with women on farms in the West Coast / Winelands region, and with out-of-school youth living in the Cape Flats, where it was apparent that conventional approaches to research were limiting and, at times, inefficient in such contexts.
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Linda lived in Cape Town for many years, before relocating to Halifax, Canada in 2003, where she now lives with her partner, Janus Siebrits.
