DOI: 10.3886/icpsr34011
title: Afrobarometer Round 4: The Quality of Democracy and Governance in South Africa, 2008
title: Archival Version

description: The Afrobarometer project was designed to collect and disseminate information regarding Africans' views on democracy, governance, economic reform, civil society, and quality of life. This particular survey was concerned with the attitudes and opinions of the citizens of South Africa. Respondents in a face-to-face interview were asked to rate their president and the president's administration in overall performance, to state the most important issues facing their nation, and to evaluate the effectiveness of certain continental and international institutions. Opinions were gathered on the role of the government in improving the economy, whether corruption existed in local and national government, whether government officials were responsive to problems of the general population, and whether local government officials, the police, the courts, the overall criminal justice system, the National Electoral Commission, and the government broadcasting service could be trusted. Respondents were polled on their knowledge of the government, including the identification of government officials, their level of personal involvement in political, governmental, and community affairs, their participation in national elections, and the inclusiveness of the government. Economic questions addressed the past, present, and future of the country's and the respondents' economic conditions, and respondents' living conditions. Additional topics included Apartheid, the former Thabo Mbeki government, and political party finance. Background variables include age, gender, ethnicity, education, religious affiliation and participation, political party affiliation, language spoken most at home, whether the respondent was the head of household, current and past employment status, whether a close friend or relative had died from AIDS, and language used in interview. In addition, the interviewer's gender, race, and education level is provided.
description: Please visit the Afrobarometer Web site for more information regarding weights.
description: Response Rates: Approximately 46.4 percent.
description: The Afrobarometer uses a clustered, stratified, multi-stage, probability sample design. The sample is designed as a representative cross-section of all citizens of voting age in a given country. The goal is to give every adult citizen an equal and known chance of selection for interview. This objective is reached by (a) strictly applying random selection methods at every stage of sampling and by (b) applying sampling with probability proportionate to population size wherever possible. A randomly selected sample of 1,200 cases allows inferences to national adult populations with a margin of sampling error of no more than plus or minus 3 percent with a confidence level of 95 percent. If the sample size is increased to 2,400, the confidence interval shrinks to plus or minus 2 percent.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Afrobarometer Round 4: The Quality of Democracy and Governance in South Africa, 2008
description: Citizens of South Africa aged 18 years or older, excluding institutions. Smallest Geographic Unit: enumeration area
description: face-to-face interviewThe original data collection was carried out by Citizens Surveys.Additional information about the Afrobarometer Survey can be found at the Afrobarometer Web site.