WHAT IS CRAM?
What is NIDS-CRAM?
The National Income Dynamics Study – Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) is a broadly nationally-representative panel survey of South African individuals. The same people are contacted every few months and asked a range of questions on their income and employment, their household welfare, receipt of grants, and about their knowledge and behaviour related to COVID-19. There are five waves of the study planned during 2020/2021, and each participant receives an R20 airtime voucher per wave for Waves 1-4, and R40 for Wave 5, for participating. The aim is to provide periodic, nationally-representative data on key outcomes such as unemployment, household income, child hunger and access to government grants. For the full Wave 1 questionnaire see here. If you are a survey participant/respondent please click here to find the full Q&A.
Is NIDS-CRAM nationally representative?
NIDS-CRAM is a special follow up with a subsample of adults from households in the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) Wave 5. NIDS is a broadly nationally-representative panel study following the lives of the same 28,000 South Africans and those they live every two to three years since 2008. NIDS was conducted by the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU), who have agreed to conduct a special follow-up survey – NIDS-CRAM – on the NIDS sample.
Do you have government support?
We have received strong support from high-level government officials from Presidency, National Treasury and the Department of Health. We have received formal letters of support from Tshediso Matona (Secretary of the National Planning Commission in Presidency), Mampho Modise (Deputy Director General in National Treasury), and Stanley Ntakumba (Acting Director General in the Department of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation in Presidency) and Yogan Pillay (Deputy Director General in the Department of Health).
Who are the researchers involved with CRAM?
The Principal Investigators of the CRAM study are Dr Nic Spaull from the Economics Department at Stellenbosch University and Associate Professor Reza Daniels from the School of Economics at the University of Cape Town. They are joined by seven co-investigators (Team Leads) who are Prof Dori Posel (Wits), Dr Nwabisa Makaluza (SU), Prof Ronelle Burger (SU), Prof Rulof Burger (SU), Prof Servaas van der Berg (SU), Prof Vimal Ranchhod (UCT) and David Carel (SU). Each Team Lead is involved in one or more of the five working groups: (1) Sampling, (2) Labour and Firms, (3) Social Welfare, (4) Health & COVID-19, (5) Data collection and data quality.
OUR TEAM
We are united in our commitment to provide rapid, reliable research on key outcomes related to the COVID-19 crisis.
STEERING COMMITTEE
Dr Nic Spaull a senior researcher with Resep in the Economics Department at Stellenbosch University, and is the Director and Founder of Funda Wande.
Anthony is the CEO of the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation Endowment.
Haroon is professor of Economics and Director of DPRU at the UCT. He also sits on the President's Economic Advisory Council.
Ingrid is a Professor, and Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at Stellenbosch University, and is on the Davis Tax Commission.
Leila is a Professor of Social Development and Social Work at the Centre for Social Development in Africa based in the University of Johannesburg.
Murray is a professor in the School of Economics at UCT, and the Director of SALDRU. He holds the DSD/NRF National Research Chair of Poverty and Inequality Research and is an IZA Research Fellow.
Experienced executive with a demonstrated history of working in the Financial Services industry. Skilled in Insurance, Employee Benefits , Risk Management, Management, Actuarial Science, and Employee Engagement. A Fellow of the Actuarial Society of South Africa who holds a Bachelor of Business Science focused in Actuarial Science from University of Cape Town.
Servaas is the NRF SARChi Chair in Social Policy in the Economics Department at Stellenbosch University and a regular advisor of the South African government. He is a professor of Economics, and the director of Resep.
Thabo is the Deputy Director General in the office of The Presidency in South Africa. He serves as the Outcomes Facilitator for Improved quality of basic education and additionally for a skilled and capable workforce to support an inclusive growth path in the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.
Michael is an Adjunct Professor at University of the Witwatersrand, and is the former deputy director general of the Budget Office of the National Treasury.
TEAM LEADS
Dr Nic Spaull a senior researcher with Resep in the Economics Department at Stellenbosch University, and is the Director and Founder of Funda Wande.
Dori Posel is the Helen Suzman Chair and a distinguished professor in the School of Economics and Finance at the University of the Witwatersrand. She specialises in applied micro-economic research.
Gabrielle is a full-time education economist and researcher with Resep, in the Department of Economics at Stellenbosch University.
Dr Nwabisa Makaluza is an associate researcher with Resep in the Economics Department at Stellenbosch University, and is also a senior researcher with Funda Wande.
Reza is Associate Professor in the School of Economics at UCT. He is also a former Principal Investigator of the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS), implemented by SALDRU at UCT.
Ronelle is a professor at the Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University, and a senior researcher with Resep, with a focus on health economics research.
Rulof is an associate professor at the Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University, and a senior researcher with Resep, with a focus on behavioural and labour economics research.
Servaas is the NRF SARChi Chair in Social Policy in the Economics Department at Stellenbosch University and a regular advisor of the South African government. He is a professor of Economics, and the director of Resep.
Vimal is a Chief Research Officer with SALDRU, and a professor in the School of Economics at UCT.
David is currently the Project Manager at Funda Wande. He researches South African social policy with a focus on basic education and the social grant system.
WORKING GROUPS: LABOUR AND FIRMS
Vimal is a Chief Research Officer with SALDRU, and a professor in the School of Economics at UCT.
Neil is an associate professor at the Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University. He is an applied micro-economist working in the areas of labour markets, firms, pricing, trade and impact evaluation.
Nwabisa is an associate researcher with Resep in the Economics Department at Stellenbosch University, and is also a senior researcher with Funda Wande.
Volker is an associate professor of Economics in the School of Economics and Finance at the University of the Witwatersrand. His research interest include Education, Labour and Firm Dynamics.
Rocco is a Research Officer at SALDRU. His research interests include the study of poverty and poverty dynamics, labour economics, economic inequality, and the use of mixed methods.
Wim Louw is a Research Manager at J-PAL Africa. Wim currently works on projects in youth employment and education.
Bokang is a project manager at Funda Wande, and a lecturer in the department of economics at Stellenbosch University.
Reza is Associate Professor in the School of Economics at UCT. He is also a former Principal Investigator of the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS), implemented by SALDRU at UCT.
WORKING GROUPS: SOCIAL WELFARE
Servaas is the NRF SARChi Chair in Social Policy in the Economics Department at Stellenbosch University and a regular advisor of the South African government. He is a professor of Economics, and the director of Resep.
Dr Nic Spaull a senior researcher with Resep in the Economics Department at Stellenbosch University, and is the Director and Founder of Funda Wande.
Dr Linda Zuze is the founder and director of Chimango Research. She has extensive experience in the design, management and analysis of social surveys spanning across several African countries.
Gabrielle is a full-time education economist and researcher with Resep, in the Department of Economics at Stellenbosch University.
Stephen is the Director of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Department of Basic Education. His work includes impact evaluation of education interventions, measuring educational performance and equity in educational outcomes.
Martin is an associate professor in the Economics Department of Stellenbosch University and senior researcher with Resep, specialising in education policy and comparative education. He also works as a senior economist in the Department of Basic Education.
Daniela is an associate professor in the School of Economics and Finance at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her research interests include Labour, Gender and Welfare Economics.
Dori Posel is the Helen Suzman Chair and a distinguished professor in the School of Economics and Finance at the University of the Witwatersrand. She specialises in applied micro-economic research.
Leila is a Professor of Social Development and Social Work at the Centre for Social Development in Africa based in the University of Johannesburg.
Mark is currently Professor in Institute for Life Course Health Research, Department of Global Health, Stellenbosch University.
Grace is a researcher with Resep, in the Department of Economics at Stellenbosch University.
WORKING GROUPS: HEALTH & COVID-19
Ronelle is a professor at the Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University, and a senior researcher with Resep, with a focus on health economics research.
Dr Anja Smith is a researcher at Resep, based at Stellenbosch University, with a focus on development economic and health research.
Dr Laura Rossouw is a senior lecturer in Economics at the School of Economics and Finance, University of Witwatersrand.
Dr Carmen Christian is a lecturer at UWC, and a researcher with a focus on development economics and health.
Dr Brendan Maughan-Brown is the Chief Research Officer, SALDRU, UCT. He is an interdisciplinary social scientist with expertise on the uptake of HIV-prevention and treatment services.
Dr Lungiswa Nkonki is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Global Health at Stellenbosch University, and completed her PhD in Health Economics at the University of Bergen in 2012.
Dr Russel Rensburgis the director of the Rural Health Advocacy Project at the University of the Witswatersrand.
Dr Cari van Schalkwyk is a statistical analyst and researcher for the DST/NRF Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA).
WORKING GROUPS: SAMPLING
Rulof is an associate professor at the Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University, and a senior researcher with Resep, with a focus on behavioural and labour economics research.
Andrew is a professor, economist and a Chief Research Officer at DataFirst, in the Faculty of Commerce, UCT.
Dr Cobus Burger is a full-time researcher with Resep at Stellenbosch University. His research interests include applied micro-econometrics, treatment effects, labour economics, health, the economics of education, and structural equation modelling.
Cally is a Professor for SALDRU at UCT. She has extensive experience in the design, management, and micro-econometric analysis of social surveys. Her research focuses on education, health, labour markets, and household behavior.
WORKING GROUPS: DATA COLLECTION & DATA QUALITY
Reza is Associate Professor in the School of Economics at UCT. He is also a former Principal Investigator of the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS), implemented by SALDRU at UCT.
Tim Brophy is a data scientist at SALDRU, UCT with a focus on data management, data quality and the intersection of socioeconomic data with graphical information systems.
Kim Ingle is a research analyst at SALDRU, UCT and has experience of working on various aspects of large national panel surveys in South Africa.
Morne Hoffman is a data quality analyst in SALDRU with experience in dataset production and performing high-frequency checks during live data collection.
Victoria Basopo is a data quality analyst in SALDRU with experience in dataset production and performing high-frequency checks during live data collection.
Paidamoyo Bodzo is a data quality analyst in SALDRU with experience in dataset production and performing high-frequency checks during live data collection.
Julia Tatham is a data quality analyst in SALDRU with experience in dataset production and performing high-frequency checks during live data collection.
Viwe Dikoko is a data quality analyst in SALDRU with experience in dataset production and performing high-frequency checks during live data collection.
REFERENCE GROUP
Martin is the director of DataFirst, and is a professor in the School of Economics UCT.
Dieter is an associate professor at the Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University. He is a researcher with Resep, and focuses on micro econometric applications in the fields of Development Economics, South African labour markets and Cliometrics
Professor David Everatt is Head of School, Wits School of Governance.
Derek is an associate professor in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at UWC. He is a part-time senior researcher for the DPRU at UCT.
Catherine is the Chief Director Macroeconomic Policy at National Treasury of South Africa. Her main areas of policy responsibility are global financial market spillovers, monetary and exchange rate policy, reserve management policy, regional and domestic growth constraints, and labour policy.
Aalia is a director at the National Treasury of South Africa.
Sibusiso is the head of department at the Department of Transport, KZN.
Mark is the Chief Director for Health and Social Development at the National Treasury of South Africa.
Peter is a public health specialist, with nearly 40 years experience of improving the quality of care at primary care level and implementation of a district health system in South Africa.
Jonatan is a Senior Budget Analyst for Health at the National Treasury of South Africa, and works in budget preparation, monitoring and evaluation, policy analysis and donor funding.
Noxolo is a Budget Analyst for the Health Directorate at National Treasury of South Africa.
Najma is an experienced Epidemiologist with a demonstrated history of working in the non-profit organization management industry, academic, research and within the Public Health sector.
Graeme is the Social Science Lead at the Desmond Tutu Centre, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Stellenbosch University.
Sophie is an Epidemiologist and Principal Researcher at the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office, HE2RO, and holds a join appointment at the University of Witwatersrand, is also affiliated to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Anita is an independent consultant with a focus on stakeholder engagement, social impact assessment and social risk management.
Amnesty is an Associate Professor at UCT with a joint appointment at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. She has nearly two decades of experience conducting research in low and middle income countries
Lawrence is a health economist and public health policy researcher. He is a Research Assistant Professor at the Boston University School of Public Health and holds a joint appointment at the University of Witwatersrand
Bobby is a Demand Side Surveys Specialist at insight2impact, a financial services provider which seeks to unlock economic opportunities in Africa through the smarter use of data.
Tony has a background in the university (Philosophy, logic, linguistics) and in the NGO sectors, as well as politics and government (communication and social research and analysis). He is a recipient of the Order of Luthuli
Michael is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics & Economic History and at NALSU, both at Rhodes University. He is also a Research Associate of the global research and advocacy network WIEGO.
Nicola is a senior researcher for SALDRU at UCT.
John Kruger is an economist working at the Financial and Fiscal Services Commission after moving from the Department of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME). He has over two decades worth of experience in the public sector.
Mastoera is the Programme Manager at the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of South Africa.
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