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Dr Jare Struwig
Chief Research Specialist
Developmental, Capable and Ethical State

Mrs Jare Struwig is a chief research manager in the Developmental, Capable and Ethical State (DCES) research programme. She holds an MA in Research Psychology from the University of Pretoria and is registered as a psychometrist and research psychologist at the South African Medical and Dentistry Council. She was also a part time lecturer at UNISA and TUT where she taught courses in research methods and statistics in psychology, to both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Tourism and Environmental Management at the University of Pretoria. She is also the South African representative on the International Social Surveys Programme (ISSP) where she advises on best practices and research methodologies in surveys research in Africa. She has served as a member of the HSRC?s ethics committee and Bid Adjudication Committee.

Experience and special projects: Prior to joining the HSRC she worked at the University of Pretoria as an assistant lecturer and did her research internship at Afrosearch. At the onset of her research career at the HSRC she focussed on media monitoring, researching the impact of TV on South Africans. This research involved formative evaluation and aimed at promoting well-being among South Africans. During the 1994, 1996 and 1999 elections, she was seconded to the Independent Broadcasting Authority to undertake media monitoring of elections to ensure fairness in terms of the Broadcasting Act. This set the scene for her involvement in all subsequent elections undertaking Voter Participation Surveys and Election Satisfaction Surveys for the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), determining the freeness and fairness of elections.

For the past 15 years, her interest has shifted to large-scale national quantitative surveys. She was one of the researchers who established the longstanding annual South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS). This survey won the National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) Data for Research Award in 2017. Clients of this survey include the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa; the Financial Services Board; the Open Society Foundation South Africa; the Nuclear Energy Cooperation of South Africa; the Department of Education; Department of Energy; South African Revenue Services; Department of Science and Technology; Department of Defence as well as higher educational institutions such as the University of Pretoria and Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU). International clients include the European Social Survey and from the National Opinion Research Center?s (NORC) in the US. In addition to specialising in quantitative studies, she has also been involved in various qualitative studies on a variety of topics and environmental assessments.

Publications: Jare Struwig has published 15 peer reviewed journal articles in both local and international journals, over 200 research reports and 27 book chapters. She also co-edited a book entitled Family Matters: Family cohesion, values and strengthening in South Africa which was published by HSRC in 2019. The book was included in the NIHSS 2020 Awards longlist, under the non-fiction edited volume category. She has also presented several papers at both local and international conferences.