Roger Jowell

Sir Roger Mark Jowell, CBE (26 March 1942 – 25 December 2011) was a British social statistician and academic. He founded Social and Community Planning Research (SCPR, now known as the National Centre for Social Research) and the Centre for Comparative Studies at City University.

He played a leading role in the establishment of several of the UK’s leading social surveys, most famously the British Social Attitudes and the British Election Study. He made a major contribution to the development of robust comparative research through the International Social Survey Programme and the European Social Survey.

Roger Mark Jowell was born on 26 March 1942 in South Africa, the second son of Emily Katzenellenbogen and Jack Jowell. In his youth, he was active in left-wing politics becoming President of Cape Town’s Student Representative Council and Vice President of the National Union of South African Students.

"As soon as I graduated from the University of Cape Town in 1964, I came to Britain - initially just to gain a broader perspective on my life. It wasn't that I had to leave, although as President of the Students’ Union I’d been heavily involved in student politics and anti-apartheid activities. At that time students were more or less immune from prosecution. But then things changed, and a few months after I arrived in Britain I got word that many of my close friends had been arrested. I realised then that I couldn’t go back - it wouldn't have been safe. Once I got my British passport, I was able to go back fairly regularly."

In Britain, Jowell was active in anti-apartheid activities and in the Labour Party, becoming Alderman in Camden. He began his research career at Research Services Limited (RSL), mentored by Mark Abrams. In 1969, with Gerald Hoinville he founded the London-based Social & Community Planning Research (SCPR), which became the National Centre for Social Research, He led the organisation for over 30 years.

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