issp and ess an introduction to the surveys. the international social survey programme (issp)
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ISSP and ESS
An introduction to the surveys
The International Social Survey Programme
(ISSP)
Background
Began in 1985• Annual survey
Initiated and set up by• Australia, USA, Britain, West Germany
Structure and funding• Elected Secretariat (Norway) plus subgroups • No central funding for co-ordination activities• Individual countries have to raise funds for surveys
Now 43 members spanning Europe, America, Asia, Australia and Africa
ISSP member countriesAustralia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
Chile
China
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Finland
France
Germany
Great Britain
Hungary
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Latvia
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Russia
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Turkey
United States
Uruguay
Venezuela
ISSP aims
To facilitate the in-depth study of cross-national differences in attitudes towards subjects of global importance and interest, over time … • Global focus • Time series
ISSP topics
TopicsRole of Government
Social Networks/Relations and Support Systems
Social Inequality
Family and Changing Gender Roles
Work Orientations
Religion
Environment
National Identity
Citizenship
Administered in 1985, 1990, 1996, 2006
1986, 2001
1987, 1992, 1999, 2009
1988, 1994, 2002
1989, 1997, 2005
1991, 1998, 2008
1993, 2000, 2010
1995, 2003
2004
ISSP fieldwork
Sampling • Minimum 1000 achieved sample• Expectation that members will use random sampling
Fieldwork• Face to face or self-completion methods• No telephone• Variable fieldwork dates
Questionnaire • 15 minute module (60 questions) asked in agreed order• Often administered as part of another survey• Agreed background questions• Guidance on translation
ISSP questionnaire design
Topic selection• Topics nominated and voted for at annual plenary meeting• Drafting group elected with a chair
Module design• Circulation of design notes/q-res to members• Rough outline for module discussed one year, detailed
questions the next• Ideally new questions pilot tested prior to final discussion• Any module being repeated MUST include 40 repeat
questions (plus up to 20 new ones)• Members vote on individual questions in final module• Design process can vary depending on make-up of group
ISSP data
Participating countries should supply data to central archive in Germany within 9 months of fieldwork• No core funding for archive• Archive work also carried out in Spain
Clear guidance provided on dataset conventions
Delay before cross-national dataset available • Variable fieldwork dates• Delays in data deposit• Most recent dataset available is 2005 Work Orientation
Data available from issp.org
The European Social Survey(ESS)
Background
Began in 2002• Biennial survey
Structure and funding• Central Co-ordinating Team (CCT) at City University plus
Sampling Panel, Translation Taskforce, Methods Group• Scientific Advisory Board • Initiated/seed-funded by European Science Foundation, now
core funding from European Commission• Individual countries fund country co-ordinator and survey
‘Eurovision’ membership rules
Current ESS member countriesAustria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Russia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
Germany
Hungary
Ireland
Latvia
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
ESS aims
To measure and explain the relationship between Europe's changing institutions and the attitudes, values and behaviours of its population • European focus• Time series
To draw on best practice as demonstrated in similar national studies in Europe and the US• Desire to produce bullet-proof data• Winner of Descartes Prize in 2005 for “radical innovations in
cross-national surveys”
ESS questionnaire
Core modules
Rotating modules (usually 50 items in each module)
Socio-demographic/economic ‘background’ variables
Context and event data
Contact information
ESS core modules
Topics covered include • Trust in institutions• Political engagement• Social capital• Socio-political values, moral and social values• National, religious and ethnic identity• Well-being, health and security
ESS rotating modules
2002Citizenship, involvement and democracy
Immigration
2004Family, work and well-being
Health and health-care seeking
Economic morality
2006Personal and social well-being
Timing of life
2008Experiences and expressions of ageism
Welfare attitudes
ESS context and event data
Context data• Information about specific counties
Demographic statistics
Socio-economic macro statistics
Event data• Collected by national co-ordinators• Covers period of fieldwork • Example page from September 2006
Pope speech angers Muslims
4000 UK jobs to be cut
4 men in court on terrorism charges
Blair addresses unions
• Supply brief summary and media references
ESS contact information
Details collected about each address in sample• Productive and unproductive• Including number of calls, outcome of each visit, number
of eligible adults at the address• Robust information about response rates• Analysis of calling patterns
ESS fieldwork
Sampling• Minimum effective sample size typically 1500
• Essential that members use random sampling
Fieldwork• Face to face only, no telephone
• Set fieldwork dates (Sept - Dec of relevant year)
• Experimental work in 2008 to look at multi-mode surveys
Questionnaire• 60-70 minute survey, including background questions
• Administered as stand-alone survey, questions to be asked in agreed order
• Guidelines and advice on translation
ESS questionnaire design
Topic selection• Biennial CCT call for proposals for rotating modules• Two or three modules selected for each survey• Question Design Teams must be international• Final decision following refereeing and discussion with SAB
Module design • Discussion with CCT• Discussion with country co-ordinators • Pilot testing in two member countries
ESS data
Participating countries supply data to central archive in Norway within a few months of fieldwork• Central funding for NSD archive
Clear guidance on dataset conventions
Considerable communication between country co-ordinator and archive before country dataset signed
Full ESS dataset made available fairly quickly• 2006 dataset released in spring 2007 (preliminary release)
Data available from ess.nsd.uib.no (or follow links from main ESS site)
ESS and ISSP Compare and contrast
ISSP and ESS compared (1)Membership
• Europe vs worldwide• Potential for expansion
Time-series • ISSP has longer time-series• No ESS time series yet on all bar core questions
Organisational structure• Degree of central co-ordination• Top down vs bottom up
Funding• Presence/absence of adequate funding to cover co-
ordination activities
ISSP and ESS compared (2)
Methods• ISSP has more variation in sampling methods than ESS• Similar modes• ESS more rigorous and better able to intervene to promote
good practice• Both surveys provide country specific documentation, ESS
is clearer and of higher standard
Questionnaire • ISSP 60 items on specific topic• ESS 240 plus items on range of topics (including 2 rotating
topics covered with 50 items about each)
ISSP and ESS compared (3)
Design process• Both allow considerable consultation with member countries • ESS more systematic, gives more weight to academic/policy
experts • ISSP allows member countries to vote on specific questions• Limitations stemming from ISSP’s global coverage
Data • ESS data available more quickly• ESS spends more time on practices to ensure high quality
Further information
Further sources of information
European Social Survey• www.europeansocialsurvey.org• ‘Measuring attitudes cross-nationally - Lessons from the
European Social Survey (Jowell et al, 2007: Sage)• Online searchable bibliography at ESS website
International Social Survey Programme• www.issp.org• Bibliography at ISSPwebsite, lists 2880 publications
(including 388 books, 428 book chapters and 915 journal papers)
Other relevant surveys
European Values Survey• 10 year intervals
World Values Survey• 1981, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005• Range of social, political and moral issues
Eurobarometer• Annual• Public opinion on European Commission