International survey programmes

Eurobarometer

Standard Eurobarometer public opinion surveys are conducted on behalf of the European Commission at least two times a year in all member nations of the European Union. The Eurobarometer survey series is a unique programme of cross-national and cross-temporal comparative social research. Since the early seventies representative national samples in all European Union (European Community) member countries are simultaneously interviewed in each spring and each autumn. Starting with Eurobarometer 34.1 (autumn 1990) separate supplementary surveys on special issues have been conducted under almost each Eurobarometer number. The Eurobarometer is designed to provide regular monitoring of the social and political attitudes in the EU (EC) public.

Eurobarometer data files and documentation are stored at the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research - ICPSR - in Ann Arbor, Michigan and the Zentralarchiv für Empirische Sozialforschung, ZA in Cologne. The Swedish Social Science Data Service - SSD - has recently joined to help help with the processing and documentation of the Eurobarometer. If possible, interested parties should first contact the social science data archive in their home country (see also: Members of IFDO & CESSDA).
 

ISSP - International Social Survey Programme

The International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) is a continuous annual cross-national data collection project on annual basis since 1985. It brings together pre-existing social science projects and coordinates research goals, thereby adding a cross-national perspective to the individual national studies.
The ISSP marks several new departures in the area of cross-national research. First, the collaboration between organisations is not ad hoc or intermittent, but routine and continual. Second, the ISSP makes cross-national research a basic part of the national research agenda of each participating country. Third, by combining a cross-time with a cross-national perspective, two powerful research designs are being used to study societal processes. Since 1985 the ISSP grow from six to thirty participating countries in 1998.

The ISSP internet pages give access to detailed information about the ISSP data service provided by the Zentralarchiv, Cologne. The homepage of the ISSP secretariat informs about history, membership, publications and the ISSP list server.