The European Social Survey: a research instrument for the social sciences in Europe

The Case for a European Social Survey

The social sciences, in common with the natural sciences, aim for generalisations across time and space. They must also, however, pay close attention to the social and institutional arrangements that structure human interaction. Europe’s cultural diversity thus makes it a natural laboratory for the social sciences, which can analyse differences in institutions, structures, behaviours and beliefs across European states and relate these to explanations of human interaction.

The social sciences in Europe have a long tradition in empirical analysis. However, most of the empirical research that has been done is not of a truly comparative nature. The result is that essential comparative data are either missing altogether, or are available in such different forms in different countries that the basis for comparison becomes extremely fragile.

Of course, there is a wealth of data on individuals and households that are regularly collected by statistical offices and other administrative agencies. These data, however, are frequently not comparable across nations and are often not accessible to researchers for reasons of administrative self-interest or data protection. Absolutely crucially, however, they do not deal with the whole range of individual orientations (attitudes, beliefs and behaviours) that are central in understanding modern societies, and that can be assessed by survey research.

Very many individual surveys have been and will be conducted in particular European countries. Inevitably, however, these are tailored to individual projects and interests. The social sciences, if they are to make progress, require regular cross-national surveys that are conceptually well anchored, conducted according to rigorous methodological standards and are available at little cost to the entire research and policy community. Such studies must be designed for use by a broad variety of people for a broad variety of purposes. No such database currently exists in Europe, and this is the essential rationale for a regular European Social Survey (ESS). This will provide a core research infrastructure for a broad range of social science disciplines: political science, sociology, social psychology, mass communication, economic sciences, modern social history and social anthropology. The data will be of value to scholars, politicians, policy-makers and the public alike. As survey builds upon survey, users will be able to construct a long-term account of change and development in the social world of modern Europe.

Designing the European Social Survey

Since the ESS combines its core concerns for international comparison and the study of mid- to long-term change, its design will involve interviewing independent cross-sectional samples of people in each wave of the survey, conducted once every two years, with a common core of questions being asked in each wave. Each wave will also include up to three research modules that will be repeated over much longer time intervals. The ESS will thus steadily unfold its full potential as more and more waves of the survey accumulate.

A major problem in comparative research is the translation of terms and concepts. Even seemingly simple translations of single words give problems that arise from different cultural meanings. Back-translation procedures can be used to aim for linguistic equivalence. Yet even excellent translations provide no guarantee that terms are functionally equivalent in different societies. The search for comparisons that are valid over time and between cultures strongly implies a need for theory-driven research and a clear specification of the meaning of core concepts. This implies that translation and back-translation procedures should be conducted on the basis of extensive consultations with both expert researchers and area specialists. The equivalence problem also implies the need for extensive pretesting and very thorough methodological work, as well as context-sensitive documentation.

An innovative high quality survey such as the ESS not only opens up a unique opportunity for methodological research but requires, in order to maintain the highest standards, systematic methodological scrutiny before the data are made available. In addition technology-induced developments in survey methodology, such as computer-assisted interviewing, must be anticipated and evaluated.

The expected high cost of the ESS has given rise to debates whether the data should be embargoed in some way and made available to interested researchers from non-participating countries only at a substantial price that would help recover costs. It is not proposed, however, to charge any but the most marginal cost for ESS datasets. The core philosophy behind the ESS is to enhance the entire social research infrastructure in Europe and anything that undermines this goal must be avoided.

Population to be surveyed

Increasingly permeable European borders make definition of the population from which to sample more complex than it would have been in the past. Since the ESS has a time perspective that looks deep into the 21st century, the key definition of the sampling population must be made very carefully. It is also vital that equivalent sampling procedures are used in all participating countries.

Taking these factors into consideration, the survey will cover people 15 years and older, with no upper age limit, who are resident in the country, regardless of nationality, citizenship or legal status. This definition is important for a variety of reasons. First, in starting at the age of 15, easy sampling from voter registers will not be possible. Nonetheless there are good reasons that derive from socialization theory that imply a lower age limit. Second, "resident populations" include people living in institutions such as old age homes, university or school housing, prisons, hospitals and the military as well as groups such as the homeless. These are typically excluded from major national surveys. The substantial ageing of many European populations, however, means that serious consideration must be given to including people living in old age homes. The same applies to people who spend extended time living in educational institutions. On the other hand, people in inaccessible institutions such as prisons and military barracks can be excluded from the population for practical reasons, although some flexibility will be needed in this matter.

The most important element of the population definition proposed for the ESS is the inclusion of non-national residents. The biggest difficulty that will be encountered in this respect is a language problem. Obviously, when a non-national resident speaks and understands the language of the country of residence, no problem entails. Otherwise, in countries where a minority language is spoken as a first language by 5 % or more of the total population, the questionnaire will be translated into that language and suitable interviewers will be trained. Since a substantial number of tested language versions of the questionnaire will be available, furthermore, there may well be practical solutions to the language problem in many cases where the 5 % threshold is not reached.

Sample

The sample will be selected by strict random probability methods at every stage. The relative selection probabilities of every sample member will be known and recorded on the data set. Quota sampling will not be used at any stage. While random sampling is not equally common in all countries, it can be implemented without major problem and provides a solid basis of comparability across countries.

Even though many commercial surveys are now conducted via the telephone, telephone coverage of private households is nowhere near complete in many European countries. This means that the interviewing mode for the ESS will be face-to-face personal interviews.

A very important decision with a big impact on costs concerns the number of interviews to be conducted in each country. A high-quality survey such as the ESS will need a relatively large sample size to allow for the effective statistical analysis of data relating to relatively small groups. Since, on the other hand, survey cost is such an important factor, some flexibility on sample size may be needed. The recommended sample size is thus 2500 and the minimum is set at 2000 not considering design effects. Therefore, the effective minimum sampling size must be 1500 interviews. The target response rate is high, at a minimum of 75% of eligible sample members. Response rates cannot be legislated, but they can be heavily influenced by insisting on fieldwork procedures that maximise the chances of finding elusive sample members.

Timing

While it would have been attractive for many reasons to conduct the ESS every year, practical arguments of costs and feasibility imply that it be conducted every second year, at least in the preliminary waves. The first wave is planned for the year 2001 in order to allow for high-quality design and preparation. This timing will of course depend on the speed with which the responsible bodies take their decisions on funding the ESS.

Participating countries

It is not yet clear which countries will participate in the first wave of the ESS. There was very great interest on the part of ESF member countries in the design of the blueprint, but this may not indicate an automatic willingness to bear the costs of joining the ESS programme. The more or less full participation of all ESF member countries cannot therefore be a sine qua non for the ESS to proceed. On the other hand, every effort should be made to ensure as wide a participation as possible. Every additional country that joins increases the analytical power and value of the project. For every non-participating country, the decision not to participate will be very costly in terms of not being involved in the detailed design work and, most importantly, in not having access to an important dataset that links it to all participating countries.

Themes for the European Social Survey

The focus of the ESS will be the systematic study of European citizens’ attitudes, attributes, and behaviour relating to a core set of economically, socially and politically relevant domains. It will study distributions, differences and changes across time and space in the social, political and cultural beliefs and behaviours of Europeans. The ESS will not be just another public opinion survey concerned with specific current or fashionable themes. Rather, it will be a systematic instrument designed to enable and stimulate innovative research on the basis of existing knowledge, but at the same time flexible enough to cover new ground.

Each wave of the ESS will consist of three parts: a core module designed to tap change and persistence in attitudes; a core module dealing with social and demographic attributes; modules for specific research projects. About 15 minutes of interview time will be devoted to each of the core modules, and about 10-12 minutes to each of the two project modules. This gives a total interview length of about 55 minutes. To increase the power and efficiency of the ESS, a third module will be administered in the form of a self-completion questionnaire. The two core modules are the basis of the continuous aspect of the ESS and will provide the opportunity to test and develop dynamic approaches analysing the social, political, and cultural beliefs and behaviours of Europeans.

The selection of each project module will be based on three important criteria. First, each element of the ESS will be designed and developed on the basis of sound theoretical arguments. Second, instruments used in the ESS will in general have proven their usefulness in empirical research (although not necessarily in an international comparative setting). To avoid a conservative bias, opportunities will be provided for innovative topics and questions, but these will require meticulous pretesting and methodological scrutiny. Third, each instrument used in ESS will be relevant for analysing the dynamics of the social, cultural, and political beliefs and behaviours of Europeans. Researchers will be invited to submit proposals for modules to be included, and an international competition will be held to decide which project modules are actually put into the field. In this way, the ESS will be a facility that is wide open to the scientific community, demonstrating best-practice standards and stimulating new developments in the social sciences.

Examples of questions for the core modules

Obviously, a listing of questions for the core modules can only be very provisional at this stage, but some indication of the types of question that might be used

• Individual attitudes and attributes
  
• issues and problems (such as crime, inequality, unemployment, public spending, etc.);
• orientations towards democracy (satisfaction, political trust, confidence in institutions, left-right self-placement, etc.);
• media usage/exposure and communication (reading newspapers and magazines, watching tv, listening to the radio, internet and multimedia usage);
• political involvement (political interest, political participation, voting behaviour, etc.);
• social and political orientations (individualisation, victimisation, postmaterialism, etc.);
• socio-political identity (national identity, ethnocentrism, xenophobia, patriotism, etc.);
• leisure activities, life style issues, etc.
• Sex/gender, nationality, birth, family situation, housing/residence, social class, education, employment/unemployment, religion, occupation, household, personal income, household income, number of people in household, etc.
• Social position and networks

Family structure; involvement in voluntary associations, interest groups, and church related organisations; informal networks, professional contacts, etc.

• Social context and environment

Social and political embeddedness, economic development, organizational structure (civil society), etc.

Examples of possible module topics

In order to convey at least a flavour of what might be covered, and without prejudice, the following topics are offered from the three realms of the social structure, the political structure and the cultural sphere. They are no mor

• Social structure
• families, primary groups, and social networks;
• mobility, immigration and multi-culturalism;

social inclusion and inequality;

• Political structure
• civil society and trust;
• democracy and political involvement;
• interest groups and political parties;
• Cultural sphere
• life styles and life course including life-long education;
• media and the knowledge society;
• subnational, national and transnational identities.

Methodological Research

A large and innovative venture such as the ESS requires extensive methodological and quality control. It is important that the ESS routinely monitor and assess the implementation and effect of the questionnaire, sampling design and of non-responses. This will aid interpretation of the data and ensure that high standards and comparability are maintained. In addition to this routine assessment, the opportunity should be grasped to carry out original methodological research designed to extend knowledge (and ultimately to improve best practice) concerning the effects of non-response and the role of the interview in this process:

Data Management, Archiving and Distribution

A decision will be taken about which of the existing European data archives become(s) the ESS archive. Rigorous standards will be defined to ensure the compatibility of ESS national data sets for integration into a common core for international comparison. The national data sets will be checked, cleaned and documented by the survey organization after the completion of fieldwork and then be sent to the ESS archive for integration, documentation, archiving and distribution of the international ESS data set. Distribution will be via modern media, currently CD ROM or Internet, subsets of data may be distributed via diskette. Given rapid developments in data distribution and retrieval technologies, internet services for easy retrieval and access to ESS questionnaires and data will be developed.

ESS supports a policy of free and easy access to its integrated dataset. Data will be made available to the scientific community at no more than handling charges. Other uses will be subject to agreement with ESS and the Archive.

Organisational Structure

An enterprise of the size and the continuity of the ESS cannot be mustered without a stable support structure. On the other hand, since the survey will serve the social science community as a whole, significant "bottom-up" elements must integrated into the organizational structure. This indicates the follo

• The ESS will have both Steering and Methodology Committees for overall substantive and methodological direction.
  
• The practical conduct of the survey requires a permanent Methodological Team to supervise the survey, act as a link between Principal Investigators and Data Archive(s) and be in regular contact with the Methodology Committee on all ESS-related topics, including methodological research. The Methodological Team will be linked to an experienced and resourceful survey organization. The Methodological Team will comprise:

– a full-time senior coordinator who will stimulate, organise and supervise all aspects of the ESS from design to successful delivery;

– four half-time positions for experienced researchers for

(1) pretesting, questionnaire construction and translation;

(2) sampling frame development and implementation;

(3) data quality check and data for multi-level analyses;

(4) data analysis and indicator validation/construction;

– two half-time positions for junior researchers;

• a full-time secretary.
  
• The Steering Committee, consisting of one senior social scientist from each participating country, will be responsible for selecting themes for the ESS modules by way of an international competition. Steering Committee members will also provide the links between the ESS and their national communities. Finally, the Steering Committee will be the major link to funding organizations and take all general budgetary decisions.
  
• The Methodology Committee, consisting of 6 to 8 senior social scientists with expertise in social science methodological research, will be responsible for guiding the work of the Methodological Team and in particular for the design of the ongoing methodological research.
  
• The most important bottom-up elements in the ESS are the teams of researchers who compete to design the topical modules. These groups should be small in size (3-6), but should preferably have a multi-national composition.

Costs

What follows are educated estimates of expected costs. These are divided in two parts: (1) the total cost of the field work and data preparation in (we assume 16) participating countries, and (2) the fixed cost of the ESS that will occur more or less independently of the number of participating countries (the only major exception here is the cost of half-time Principal Investigator for two years in each of 16 countries, for which the gross amount will, of course, vary with the number of countries involved).

Cost of surveys

Extensive consultation has taken place on fieldwork costs in likely participating countries. The mean estimate for fieldwork in a single country was 262,000 EURO, VAT excluded; the median was 255.000 EURO. Assuming that those 16 countries which provided the Methodology Committee with cost estimates will participate, then the overall field work cost would be 4,200,000 EURO.

Fixed costs

Since the rationale for the various cost elements has already been laid out in previous sections, these are simply itemized and costed below. In order to obtain an overall cost figure for the first two-year wave of the ESS, all individual items are costed for a two-year period. These costs are (in 1000 EURO):

Costs for first wave of survey – two years costs (in 1000 EURO)

Methodological research

Other costs

Total cost of European Social Survey (for 2 years)

Funding

The working assumption at the time of the writing of this report is that the central (fixed) costs of around 2.8 m EURO per survey (1.4 m EURO per year) would be centrally-funded (ideally via a mechanism such as the EU’s Fifth Research Framework Programme). This would leave the individual National Science Foundations to fund their own survey costs every two years, averaging at an amortised annualised cost of around 130,000 EURO for each participating nation (more in the Scandinavian countries and Germany, less in many other countries and much less in some).

Appendices

Appendix 1.1

Expert Group on a European Social Survey – List of members

Professor Max Kaase (Chairman)
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung
FS Sozialer Wandel,
Institutionen und Vermittlungsprozesse
Reichpietschufer 50
10785 Berlin
Germany

Mr. Bruno Cautrès
CIDSP/IEP de Grenoble
Domaine Universitaire
B.P. 45
38402 Saint Martin d’Hères cedex
France

Professor Juan Diez Nicolas
(Professor of Sociology,Universidad Complutense de Madrid)
ASEP
Paseo de la Castellana 173, 5º I
28046 Madrid
Spain

Professor Fredrik Engelstad
Institute for Social Research (ISF)
Munthesgate 31
0260 Oslo
Norway

Professor Roger Jowell
Director
Social and Community Planning Research
(SCPR)
35 Northampton Square
London EC1V 0AX
United Kingdom

Professor Leif Nordberg
Åbo Academy University
Department of Statistics
Fänriksgatan 3B
20500 Turku
Finland

Professor Antonio Schizzerotto
Facoltà di Sociologia
Università degli Studi di Trento
Via Verdi 26
38100 Trento
Italy

Dr. L. Henk Stronkhorst
Head, Scientific Statistical Agency
NWO-WSA
Postbus 93120
2509 AC The Hague
The Netherlands

Dr. John H. Smith (Secretary)
European Science Foundation
1 quai Lezay-Marnésia
67080 Strasbourg cedex
France

Appendix 2

Steering Committee– List of members

Professor Max Kaase (Chairman)
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung
FS Sozialer Wandel,
Institutionen und Vermittlungsprozesse
Reichpietschufer 50
10785 Berlin
Germany

Professor Rune Åberg
University of Umeå
Department of Sociology
901 87 Umeå
Sweden

Professor Jacques Billiet
Department of Sociology
Catholic University Leuven
Van Evenstraat 2B
3000 Leuven
Belgium

Professor Antonio Brandao Moniz
Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia
Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Quinta da Torre
2825 Monte de Caparica
Portugal

Mr. Bruno Cautrès
CIDSP/BDSP
Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Grenoble
Domaine Universitaire - B.P. 48
38040 Grenoble Cedex 9
France

Professor Nikiforos Diamandouros
National Centre for Social Research
14-18 Messoghion Av.
11527 Athens
Greece

Professor Henryk Domanski
Institute of Philosophy and Sociology
Polish Academy of Sciences
Nowy Swiat 72
Palac Staszica
00-330 Warsaw
Poland

Professor Yilmaz Esmer
Faculty of Economic and Administrative
Sciences, Bogazici University
P.K. 2 Bebek
Istanbul
Turkey

Dr. Peter Farago
Landert Farago
Davatz & Partner
Grossmünsterplatz 6
8001 Zurich
Switzerland

Professor Roger Jowell
Social and Community Planning
Research (SCPR)
35 Northampton Square
London EC1V 0AX
United Kingdom

Professor Stein Kuhnle
Department of Comparative Politics
University of Bergen
Christiesgate 15
5007 Bergen
Norway

Professor Michael Laver
Department of Political Sciences
The Policy Institute
Trinity College
Dublin 2
Ireland

Professor Guido Martinotti
Via del Caravaggio, 5
20144 Milano
Italy

Professor José Ramón Montero
Fundación Juan March
Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Ciencias Sociales
Castello, 77
28006 Madrid
Spain

Dr. Karl H. Müller
Institute for Advanced Studies
Department of Sociology
Stumpergasse 56
1060 Vienna
Austria

Professor Leif Nordberg
Åbo Academy University
Department of Statistics
Fänriksgatan 3B
20500 Turku
Finland

Dr. Niels Ploug
National Institute for Social Research
Herluf Trolles Gade, 11
1052 Copenhague K
Denmark

Substituted by:

Mr. Torben Fridberg
Socialforskningsinstituttet
Herluf Trolles Gade 11 1052 Copenhagen K
Denmark

Professor Shalom Schwartz
Department of Psychology
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Mount Scopus
Jerusalem 91905
Israel

Mrs. Ineke Stoop
Department of Information and Automation
Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau
Parnassusplein 5
P.O. Box 16164
2500 BD The Hague
The Netherlands

Professor Françoise Thys-Clement
Pro-Recteur
Université Libre de Bruxelles
Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50
Case Postale 140
1050 Bruxelles
Belgium

Substituted by:

Mr. Pierre Desmarez
TEF – CP 124
Avenue Jeanne 44
1050 Bruxelles
Belgium

Professor Niko Toš
Faculty for Social Sciences
University of Ljubljana
Kardelieva Pz. 4
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia

Professor Michael Warren
30 Cole Park Road
Twickenham
TW1 1HS Middlesex
United Kingdom

Dr. John H. Smith
(ESF Scientific Secretary for the Social Sciences)

Ms. Geneviève Schauinger
(Administrative Assistant)

Mrs. Beatriz Garcia Diaz-Ambrona
(Administrative Secretary)

European Science Foundation
1, Quai Lezay-Marnésia
67080 Strasbourg Cedex
France

Appendix 3

Methodology Committee - List of members

Professor Roger Jowell (Chairman)
Social and Community Planning
Research (SCPR)
35 Northampton Square
London EC1V 0AX
United Kingdom

Professor Jacques Billiet
Department of Sociology
Catholic University Leuven
Van Evenstraat 2B
3000 Leuven
Belgium

Dr. Peter Lynn
Survey Methods Centre
Social & Community Planning Research
35 Northampton Square
London EC1V 0AX
United Kingdom

Dr. Nonna Mayer
Centre d’Etude de la Vie Politique Française
10, rue de la Chaise
75007 Paris
France

Dr. Ekkehard Mochmann
Zentralarchiv fur emprische Sozialforschung
Universität zu Köln
Bachermer Str. 40
50931 Köln 41
Germany

Professor José Ramón Montero
Fundación Juan March
Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Ciencias Sociales
Castello, 77
28006 Madrid
Spain

Professor Willem Saris
Department of Statistics and Methodology
Faculty of Political, Social and Cultural Sciences
University of Amsterdam
O.Z. Achterburgwal 237
1012 DL Amsterdam
The Netherlands

Professor Antonio Schizzeroto
Dipartimento di Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale
Università di Trento
Via Verdi 26
38100 Trento
Italy

Professor Dr. Jan van Deth
Lehrstuhl für Politische Wissenschaft und International Vergleichende Sozialforscung
Universität Mannheim
Seminargebaude A 5
68131 Mannheim
Germany

Dr. Joachim Vogel
Statistics Sweden
Box 24300
104 51 Stockholm
Sweden

Professor Max Kaase
(Chairman Steering Committee)
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung
Reichpietschufer 50
10785 Berlin
Germany

Dr. John H. Smith
(ESF Scientific Secretary for the Social Sciences)

Ms. Geneviève Schauinger
(Administrative Assistant)

Mrs. Beatriz Garcia Diaz-Ambrona
(Administrative Secretary)

European Science Foundation
1, Quai Lezay-Marnésia
67080 Strasbourg Cedex
France