Marinda Weideman

Dr Marinda Weideman

Brief Profile: Dr Marinda Weideman is an independent social research consultant with approximately 20 years large- and small-scale, qualitative and quantitative, research, and research project management experience. Dr Weideman has skills and experience as a manager of complex research projects. She is an experienced project manager, with strong writing and analytical skills. She has successfully completed approximately 100 research projects (covering wide-ranging methodologies and subject matter). Her research skills include; research conceptualization and design, project and programme evaluations (Monitoring and Evaluation), extensive quantitative research experience (managing large-scale surveys, data analysis), extensive qualitative research experience (e.g. in-depth interviewing, focus group discussions, oral history, case-study analysis, comparative analysis), research instrument design, data analysis (including basic statistics), and report writing.

Her academic qualifications include a D.Phil. in Political Science, from the University of the Witwatersrand, obtained in 2004. A MA with distinction, numerous academic awards, and a record of continuous learning. The D.Phil. is titled: ‘Land reform, equity and growth in South Africa: A comparative analysis’.

Dr. Weideman has an extensive writing and publications record. She has published widely on a range of subjects including youth development, gender-based violence, land and agrarian reform, military history, civil society, higher education in Africa, evidence-informed policy development, and regional integration.

She currently consults for a broad range of stakeholders including the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, the Presidency: Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, and various research consultancies. She has also managed complex research projects for a number of international, governmental and civil-society actors. These include; the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the Embassy of France, the Austrian Development Foundation, the Belgian Development Agency, Transparency International, IDASA (Afrobarometer – a multi-country longitudinal survey) and the National Department of Rural Development and Land Reform in South Africa. She also has long standing working relationships with a range of South African NGOs and related civil society organisations.

Dr. Weideman has also managed, or been involved in, a number of policy development and legislative assessment processes. These include co-drafting the Policy for the Social Service Professions Sector, and managing the Regulatory Impact Assessment of the Land Tenure Security Bill for the Department of Rural Development and Land Affairs in October 2011.

She also has lecturing and training experience. She has, inter alia, taught courses on research methodology at the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Public and Development Management and for Inwent Centre for Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics (in Namibia). Other lecturing experience includes serving as a political studies lecturer at St Augustine College, Theories of Justice, (Politics 3rd year) in 2012, working as political studies tutor at Wits from 1997 to 2002, and presenting various skills development workshops to public officials from a range of government departments for at least the preceding decade.

She is fluent in English and Afrikaans and I have a basic command of French and Dutch.

Please refer to her comprehensive CV for a record of some of the more than 100 projects Dr Weideman has conducted in the preceding seven years.