Main results of the South African innovation survey 2005 (covering the period 2002-2004)

Abstract

The Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (CeSTII) was commissioned by the Department of Science and Technology to undertake a national innovation survey based on international best practice. This report presents the main findings of the South African Innovation Survey 2005, covering the period 2002-2004. Where available, comparisons are made with the results of the Fourth Round of the Community Innovation Survey (CIS4) for European Union (EU) countries, as provided by Eurostat. The design of the Innovation Survey 2005 was informed by Eurostat guidelines and the structure of the Statistics South Africa business register. The survey design thus comprises: 1. a random stratified sample (by sector and size of enterprise) drawn from the business registry database of Statistics South Africa in conformity with the Small Business Amendment Act (No. 26 of 2003); 2. a postal survey with at least two telephonic and two written correspondences; 3. provision for a non-response survey if the response rate is below 70%; 4. extrapolation of results to the target population based on the weighted sample. After cleaning the final returned questionnaires and data, an overall response rate of 37.3% from a sample size of 2 627 enterprises was obtained. This was a relatively high response rate in comparison with two previous unofficial innovation surveys undertaken in South Africa in which the response rates were less than 10%. The results of the survey were extrapolated to the target business population of 31 456 enterprises based on the weights of 120 strata.