This dataset consists of the individual-level survey data (from the South African Social Attitudes Survey 2009) plus linked area-level data concerning exposure to socio-economic inequality and neighbourhood poverty rates. These data have been anonymised by rounding the area-level variables and replacing the area-level identifier codes with new unique identifiers to ensure respondent confidentiality. This project is a collaboration between researchers from the Centre for the Analysis of South African Social Policy (CASASP) at the University of Oxford and the South African Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). The main aim of the project is to investigate whether citizens' attitudes to inequality in South Africa are associated with their experience of inequality at the local level. Analyses will be undertaken using two currently under-utilised micro-datasets in South Africa. Attitudinal perspectives on inequality will be explored using the nationally representative South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS). The unequal spatial distribution of poverty and deprivation will be explored using the South African Indices of Multiple Deprivation (SAIMD) which are derived from the 2001 Census and the 2007 Community Survey (CS 2007). The analysis of these microdata will be used to gain a better appreciation of the spatial patterns of poverty, deprivation and inequality, the nature and distribution of attitudes to economic inequality and redistribution, and importantly the relationship between them. The project will also build quantitative data analysis skills among social researchers in South Africa. The findings will be used to promote discussion about policies and programmatic interventions to address deprivation, poverty and inequality.

The individual-level survey respondent data were taken from the 2009 round of the South African Social Attitudes Survey (please see http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/departments/sasas for more details). The linked area-level data on 'exposure to inequality' were constructed as part of this particular research project (please see http://www.casasp.ox.ac.uk/esrc_inequality.html for more details) while the neighbourhood poverty rate variable was taken from the South African Index of Multiple Deprivation 2001 at Datazone level (please see http://www.casasp.ox.ac.uk/indices.html#SAIMD01 for more details)