Cross-national attitudinal research The International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) and the...
Transcript of Cross-national attitudinal research The International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) and the...
Cross-national attitudinal research
The International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) and the European Social Survey (ESS)
Today
The value and challenges of cross-national research
Key datasets • International Social Survey Programme
• European Social Survey
Why do cross-national research?
Huge challenges• Different survey traditions• Translation and equivalence
Huge dividends• Exploring ‘general’ theories (social trust)• Examining relationships (welfare regimes and attitudes)• Illuminating single-nation studies (what is high?)
“We don’t know who discovered water but we know it wasn’t the fish” (Marshall McLuhan)
ISSP
• Annual since 1985• Sampling and fieldwork
• Minimum 1000 achieved sample• Face to face or self-completion methods
• Questionnaire • 60 question module asked in agreed order• Agreed background questions
• Data • Provided to central archive within 9 months of fieldwork end• Most recent dataset available is 2008 Religion• Available from www.issp.org
• 48 countries across world
ISSP member countries
• Argentina• Australia• Austria• Belgium• Bulgaria• Canada• Chile• China• Croatia• Cyprus• Czech Republic• Denmark• Dominican
Republic• Estonia• Finland• France
• Germany• Great Britain• Hungary• Iceland• Ireland• Israel• Italy• Japan• Latvia• Lithuania• Mexico• Netherlands• New Zealand• Norway• Palestine• Philippines
• Poland• Portugal• Russia• Slovakia• Slovenia• South Africa• South Korea • Spain• Sweden• Switzerland• Taiwan• Turkey• Ukraine• United States• Uruguay• Venezuela
ISSP topics
TopicsRole of Government
Social Networks
Social Inequality
Family and Changing Gender Roles
Work Orientations
Religion
Environment
National Identity
Citizenship
Sport and leisure
Health
Year1985, 1990, 1996, 2006
1986, 2001
1987, 1992, 1999, 2009
1988, 1994, 2002, 2012
1989, 1997, 2005
1991, 1998, 2008
1993, 2000, 2010
1995, 2003
2004
2007
2011
ESS
Biennial since 2002Sampling and fieldwork
• Minimum effective sample size typically 1500• Only random sampling• Face to face only
Questionnaire• 60-70 minute survey, including background questions• Extensive attention to translation
Quick data supply• 2010 dataset just released (preliminary release)• Available from ess.nsd.uib.no (or main ESS site)
28 countries in round 5
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Israel
Lithuania
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Russia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Czech Republic
Ireland
Slovakia
ESS round 5 participants
ESS core modules
Core topics included each round 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
2002 Citizenship, involvement and democracy
Immigration
2004 Family, work and well-being
Health and health-care seeking
Economic morality
2006 Personal and social well-being
Timing of life
2008 Experiences and expressions of ageism
Welfare attitudes
2010 Work, family and well-being (repeat 2004)
Trust in criminal justice
2012 Personal and social well-being (repeat 2006)
Understandings and evaluations of democracy
ESS data
27,000 registered users with Archive
Top 6 countries• Germany, UK, Slovenia, Belgium, Spain, US
Predominantly academic• 52% students• 25% faculty and research• 9% doctoral research
Online analysis or data download
EduNet• Training resource – exploring theoretical questions using ESS
data
Further sources of information
• www.issp.org• www.europeansocialsurvey.org• ‘Measuring attitudes cross-nationally - Lessons from the
European Social Survey (Jowell et al, 2007: Sage)• Online bibliographies at both ESS and ISSP websites
Thank you
www.natcen.ac.uk
Roger’s laws of cross-national research!
• The larger the number of countries, the harder it is to maintain quality
• The greater the diversity of countries, the harder it is to maintain quality
• Whatever one does, many people will use the data merely as league tables
• Big surprises in the data are usually errors• There is no such thing as true equivalence