Brina Malnar, Mitja Hafner Fink, Janez Štebe,CJMMK and ADP, University of Ljubljana

Potentials of International Social Surveys for Preparing Subjective

Indicators of DevelopmentZMOŽNOSTI MEDNARODNIH ANKETNIH DRUŽBOSLOVNIH

PRIMERJALNIH RAZISKAV ZA OBLIKOVANJE SUBJEKTIVNIH INDIKATORJEV RAZVITOSTI

STATISTICAL DAYS 2006STATISTIČNI DNEVI 2006

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?

Assessment of quality:

• content

• method

• access

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

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

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

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

ESS organisation

CentralCoordinating

Team

Scientific Advisory

BoardQ’n Module Design Teams

Methods Group 25+ National Coordinators &

Survey institutes

Country 1 Country 2

Country 3

ETC

Sampling panel

Translation taskforce

Funders’ Forum

Specialist advisory groups

32 participating countries in Rounds 1-3Austria* Ireland* Slovenia* Belgium* Italy Spain* Bulgaria Israel Sweden* Czech Republic Italy Switzerland* Cyprus Latvia Turkey Denmark* Luxembourg UK* Estonia Netherlands* Finland* Norway* France* Poland* Germany* Portugal* Greece Romania Hungary* Russia Iceland Slovakia *all three rounds

Core questionnaire - structureSocio-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

Rotating modulesRound 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

ESS Round 1 response rates

0102030405060708090

Country

Re

sp

on

se

ra

te (

%)

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.

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.

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.

Study Profiles http://www.gesis.org/en/data_service/issp/data/index.htm

• 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

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

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

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

Type of survey

General social survey

Applied public opinion research

Minicensus

Typical representative

ESS, ISSP Eurobarometer European Quality of Life Survey

Main purpose Advanced social science research

Informing daily political decisions

Societal benchmarking

Target users (nonexclusive)

Science, education

EU Commission, national governments

Governmental and nongovernmental organisations

Support, organisation

Scientific institutes, national research projects

EU commission National governmental and international organisations

www.europeansocialsurvey.org

ESS Data Access

• http://ess.nsd.uib.no/

• janez.stebe@fdv.uni-lj.si