1990’ and 2000’ : era of continuous academic comparative internationals surveys

1. Brina Malnar, Mitja Hafner Fink, Janez Štebe,CJMMK and ADP, University of LjubljanaPotentials of International Social Surveys for Preparing Subjective Indicators of Development ZMOŽNOSTI MEDNARODNIH ANKETNIH DRUŽBOSLOVNIH PRIMERJALNIH RAZISKAV ZA OBLIKOVANJE SUBJEKTIVNIH INDIKATORJEV RAZVITOSTI STATISTICAL DAYS 2006 STATISTIČNI DNEVI 2006

2. 1990’ and 2000’: era of continuous academic comparative internationals surveys • Two most prestigious academic comparative social surveys of modern time are presented: • International Social Survey Program – ISSP, and • European Social Survey (ESS). • How relevant, useful are they for measuring social development?

3. Assessment of quality: • content • method • access

4. Rich content • broad content of subjective indicators of societal well-being: • attitudes, • believes about societal and individual “health”, • reports about behaviour • scientific criteria of indicators selection: • cover long-term interest and academic curiosity • comparative character by covering broad range of countries of Europe and the world

5. Methodological sophistication • measurement • Pre-testing and selection of indicators • validity and reliability assessment • standardisation of measurement and cumulative character • set of procedural guides to standardise process of data production • sampling, translation, survey process • academic survey organisations with long-established tradition and high reputation in countries, • high targeted response rate, • harmonisation of variables in national data files, • thorough documentation of remaining specificities • analysis require and informed and careful handling with the data in order not to make omissions in drawing conclusions

6. Easy access to raw data by broadest public • secondary analysis is primary goal • no advantage in access conditions for researchers collaborating in a project • accessibility is enhanced and data use promoted in a data archives network

7. ESS - 3 main aims • To produce rigorous trend data about changes in people’s underlying values • To surmount the longstanding obstacles to comparability in the conduct of cross-national surveys • To achieve recognition for reliable social indicators and attitudinal measures

8. ESS organisation Specialist advisory groups Scientific Advisory Board Funders’ Forum Q’n Module Design Teams Methods Group 25+ National Coordinators & Survey institutes Central Coordinating Team Sampling panel Country 1 Country 2 Country 3 Translation taskforce ETC

9. 32 participating countries in Rounds 1-3 Austria*Ireland* Slovenia* Belgium*Italy Spain* Bulgaria Israel Sweden* Czech RepublicItaly Switzerland* CyprusLatviaTurkey Denmark*Luxembourg UK* EstoniaNetherlands* Finland*Norway* France*Poland* Germany*Portugal* Greece Romania Hungary* Russia IcelandSlovakia *all three rounds

10. Core questionnaire - structure • Socio-political attitudes • Trust in institutions • Political interest & participation • Socio-political orientations • Multi-level governance • Values and quality of life • Underlying moral & social values • Social inclusion & exclusion • National, ethnic, religious allegiances • Well-being, health, security • Socio-demographic background variables • Demographic composition • Educational & occupational background • Financial circumstances • Household circumstances

11. Rotating modules Round 1 (2002): - Immigration - Citizenship, involvement and democracy (CID) Round 2 (2004): - Family, work & well-being - Economic morality in Europe - Health and care seeking Round 3 (2006): - Personal and Social Well-being: Creating indicators for a flourishing Europe - The Timing of Life: The organisation of the life course in Europe

13. ISSP: The four founding members agreed to • jointly develop modules dealing with important areas of social science • field the modules as a fifteen-minute supplement to the regular national surveys (or a special survey if necessary) • include an extensive common core of background variables • make the data available to the social science community as soon as possible.

14. Questionnaire drafting • The topics for the ISSP yearly surveys are developed over several years by a sub-committee and are pre-tested in various countries. • The annual plenary meeting of the ISSP then adopts the final questionnaire. • ISSP questions need to be relevant to all countries and expressed in an equivalent manner in all languages. • The questionnaire is originally drafted in British English and then translated into other languages.

15. The ISSP marks several new departures in the area of cross-national research • the collaboration between organisations is not ad hoc or intermittent, but routine and continual. • makes cross-national research a basic part of the national research agenda of each participating country • by combining a cross-time with a cross-national perspective, two powerful research designs are being used to study societal processes.

16. 2008 - Religion III 2007 - Leisure and Sports 2006 - Role of Government IV 2005 - Work Orientations III 2004 - Citizenship 2003 - National Identity II 2002 - Family and Gender Roles III 2001 - Social Relations and Support Systems ('Social Networks II') 2000 - Environment II 1999 - Social Inequality III 1998 - Religion II 1997 - Work Orientations II 1996 - Role of Government III 1995 - National Identity 1994 - Family and Changing Gender Roles II 1993 - Environment  1992 - Social Inequality II 1991 - Religion 1990 - Role of Government II 1985/1990 - Role of Government I and II 1989 - Work Orientations 1988 - Family and Changing Sex Roles 1987 - Social Inequality 1986 - Social Networks and Support Systems 1985 - Role of Government Study Profileshttp://www.gesis.org/en/data_service/issp/data/index.htm

17. Methodological characteristics • The sample is a national representative random sample of the adult population, designed to achieve a minimum of 1,000 cases. • Documented data files of each national group, together with technical details of the survey methods, are to be sent to the Data Archive without delay. The Data Archive will offer individual national datasets as well as a combined dataset to the scientific community. • Mode of interviewing: personal interview, face to face or by telephone, self-completed drop-off, mail

18. ISSP Methodological Research • The ISSP Methodology Group consists currently of actually five groups working on different areas of cross-cultural methods, all concerned with issues of equivalence: • translation • mode effects • demographic comparability • non-response • questionnaire design

19. Slovenia is officially contributing to ISSP project since the independence, 1990 • Part of a research project Slovene public opinion survey conducted by Public opinion and mass communication research centre, University of Ljubljana • 15 thematic modules of ISSP bring Slovenia into a world map with potentials of cross-country and longitudinal comparative analysis • Research infrastructure – publication output is broader then members of a research team only • Ad hoc financial support inside basic research projects and program scheme does not correspond to a infrastructure character of ISSP – there is a risk of failing to fulfil obligations of membership in international collaboration

21. ESS Data Access • http://ess.nsd.uib.no/ • janez.stebe@fdv.uni-lj.si www.europeansocialsurvey.org