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Jewish Community Survey of South Africa 2019

South Africa, 2019
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Reference ID
zaf-ijpr-kcjs-jcssa-2019-v2.1
DOI
https://doi.org/10.25828/6C7F-1680
Producer(s)
Institute for Jewish Policy Research, Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies
Metadata
Documentation in PDF DDI/XML JSON
Created on
Mar 04, 2024
Last modified
Aug 27, 2026
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148048
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  • Identification
  • Version
  • Scope
  • Coverage
  • Producers and sponsors
  • Sampling
  • Survey instrument
  • Data collection
  • access_policy
  • Contacts
  • Metadata production
  • Citation

    • Identification

    Survey ID number
    zaf-ijpr-kcjs-jcssa-2019-v2.1
    Title
    Jewish Community Survey of South Africa 2019
    Abbreviation or Acronym
    JCSSA 2019
    Country
    Name Country code
    South Africa zaf
    Study type
    Household Survey
    Other identifiers
    Type Identifier
    doi https://doi.org/10.25828/6C7F-1680
    Abstract
    Three major studies have been carried out on behalf of the Kaplan Centre since 1990: by Allie Dubb in 1991 (N=1,755 households); by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research in 1998 (N=1,000 households); and by Shirley Bruk in 2005 (N=1,000 households). The Jewish Community Survey of South Africa (JCSSA) 2019 is the first national survey of the Jewish population to take place since 2005. The survey was undertaken by researchers from the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR), a London-based research institute, and theKaplan Centre for Jewish Studies and Research at the University of Cape Town. The JCSSA was an online survey. Fieldwork took place between May and July 2019, and it generated a final sample size of 4,193 individuals (aged 18 and over) living in 2,402 unique households as well as those in communal institutions such as care homes, amounting to 5,287 individuals.
    Kind of Data
    Survey data
    Unit of Analysis
    Households and individuals

    Version

    Version Description
    Version 2.1: Edited, anonymised dataset available under conditions
    Version Date
    2025-08-26
    Version Notes
    Version 1 of the data was deposited by the Kaplan Centre in March 2024.
    The Kaplan Centre replaced version 1 with version 2 of the data, which has the school variable corrected.
    From version 2 to version 2.1, DataFirst rewrote the variable labels. The old labels were truncated question stems from the original questionnaire. The new ones are short topic phrases, so researchers can read what each column measures without opening the questionnaire.

    Scope

    Notes

    The JCSSA collected demographic data as well as other data on the Jewish popilation of South Africa, including: country of birth and citizenship, migration, Jewish identity, synagogue and community life, Israel, charitable giving and volunteering, intermarriage, schooling, life in South Africa and crime, antisemitism, socio-economic wellbeing and disadvantage, and health and welfare.

    Coverage

    Universe
    The universe for the study was all Jewish adults (those aged 18 and over) living in households and communal institutions in South Africa.

    Producers and sponsors

    Primary investigators
    Name Affiliation
    Institute for Jewish Policy Research
    Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies University of Cape Town
    Funding Agency/Sponsor
    Name
    Kaplan Kushlick Educational Foundation

    Sampling

    Sampling Procedure
    A convenience sample was developed using lists provided to the research team by Jewish community leaders in South Africa. From this basis a 'snowball' sample was incorporated: anyone who completed the survey could digitally invite other Jewish people they knew to take part via a private landing page. The final sample size was 5,287 individuals. The survey report provides more detail on the sampling for the survey.
    Response Rate
    The final JCSSA dataset contained 4,193 individual responses from across South Africa.
    Weighting
    The JCSSA data is not weighted but the data file has a weight variable (Weight_GrandInd) which weights the data by province, sex, synagogue membership and age.

    Survey instrument

    Questionnaires
    The survey used a single questionnaire administered online. The questionnaire collected data on disability (Question 84.1) and old age (Question 88.2) but technical problems resulted in this data not being included in the final data file.

    Data collection

    Dates of Data Collection
    Start End
    2019-05 2019-07
    Data Collection Mode
    • Internet
    Data Collectors
    Name Affiliation Abbreviation
    Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies University of Cape Town KCJS

    access_policy

    Access authority
    Name Affiliation URL Email
    DataFirst University of Cape Town support@data1st.org
    Access conditions
    Access under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC (Attribution, Non-Commercial use only) License
    Citation requirements
    Institute for Jewish Policy Research and the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies. Jewish Community Survey of South Africa 2019 [dataset]. Version 2.1. London and Cape Town: JPR and KCJS [producers], 2020. Cape Town: DataFirst [distributor], 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25828/6C7F-1680

    Contacts

    Contacts
    Name Affiliation Email URL
    DataFirst Support University of Cape Town support@data1st.org

    Metadata production

    Producers
    Name Affiliation Role
    DataFirst University of Cape Town Metadata producer
    Date of Metadata Production
    2025-02-27

    Metadata version

    DDI Document version
    Version 3

    Citation

    Citation
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