Lijphart/Przworski/Verba Dataset Award

The European Social Survey (ESS) has been chosen as the winner of the Lijphart/Przworski/Verba (LPV) Dataset Award 2020. Chosen by the Comparative Politics Section of the American Political Science Association (APSA) for the best dataset in comparative politics, the award is a significant honour for everyone involved with the ESS.

Check this news on the ESS website

Questions on COVID-19 were included in various FORS surveys and then made available to researchers in Switzerland.

One is SHARE, the survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. In Switzerland, SHARE is run jointly by FORS and the University of Lausanne. At the request of the European Commission, a telephone survey investigating the impact of the epidemic among SHARE respondents was set up. Data collection started in early June and will last until the end of July. A first set of questions concerns the impact of the epidemic on physical health, mental health, medical follow-up and compliance with health measures. A second aspect concerns the impact of the epidemic on employment, working conditions and the financial situation. And a final component investigates the impact of the epidemic on social contacts and social support. These data may be linked to other data collected in the framework of SHARE and will be made available to the scientific community at the beginning of 2021.

Another survey is MOSAiCH. The MOSAiCH survey, which this year was devoted to the theme of environment and climate, is conducted in two parts. The second part contained questions about COVID-19 and the actions taken by the Confederation. In addition to some policy questions, the effects on well-being, work status and family/work compatibility were studied. The questionnaire was completed by just over 2,000 people between the end of April and the end of May. The first results should be presented in July 2020.

The Swiss Household Panel has also launched a special wave to assess living conditions during COVID-19. Thanks to this intermediate measuring point, the SHP will offer a unique opportunity to observe the impact of this period on the daily life of the Swiss population. The additional wave focuses on well-being and health, changes in work and financial situation, time use, family and social life. The survey is currently in the field and has had a very successful start in terms of response rates.

The second edition of data and documentation for Round 9 of the European Social Survey (ESS) has now been published.

The first edition of our Round 9 dataset – published in October 2019 – included survey responses collected from 19 countries during late 2018 and 2019. This included data from: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

In this second edition, data and documentation for an additional eight countries has been added: Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden. Many of these countries have participated in the ESS after missing some rounds. In addition Montenegro participated for the first time.

This newest release of data and documentation also includes post-stratification weights (PSPWGHT) for all countries.

With the addition of these eight countries, it means that the integrated ESS9 file now includes data for 27 countries.

In addition to the core questionnaire two topics were covered in Round 9 specifically – questions were asked on the timing of life events (repeated from Round 3, 2006/07) and justice and fairness, in the context of income.

The data can be analysed on-line or downloaded from our website https://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/data/round-index.html

Data anonymisation: legal, ethical, and strategic considerations (FORS Guide N°11)

Data anonymisation or pseudonymization? How to craft a coherent anonymization strategy compliant with legal requirements and ethical norms? Drawing on the Swiss context, this Guide illustrates key considerations in crafting a coherent anonymization strategy that is compliant with legal requirements and ethical norms. It shows how to strike the right balance between anonymization and other data protection measures, namely informed consent and access control, given the nature of a project’s data and their anticipated use. This guide is written by FORS researchers Dr. Brian Kleiner and Dr. Alexandra Stam.

All FORS Guides to survey methods or data management are available for free on our website. They are written by experts inside and outside of FORS and offer practical knowledge for researchers and students of social sciences.

We are happy to announce the publication of the latest special issue entitled Fieldwork Monitoring Strategies for Interviewer-Administered Surveys. 

Edited by Katharina Meitinger, Daniela Ackermann-Piek, Michael Blohm, Brad Edwards, Tobias Gummer & Henning Silber

The special issue is published in the free online journal Survey Methods: Insights from the field.

Open access: Special issue: Fieldwork Monitoring Strategies.

This special issue spotlights the lessons learned when working with different fieldwork monitoring strategies in various settings. It provides a platform to share valuable best practice knowledge and provides insights on which fieldwork strategies and tools are employed in the field.

Survey Methods: Insights from the Field is a peer-reviewed online journal. Its goal is to promote professional exchange on practical survey research issues and discussion on new and promising paths in survey research. The journal is edited jointly by FORS, GESIS and PUMA and supported by a multi-national panel of Associate Editors, an Advisory Board and an Editorial Board.

The Swiss Household Panel launches a special wave to assess the living conditions during the Corona crisis. With this in-between measurement point, the SHP will provide the unique opportunity to observe the impact of this period on the daily lives of the Swiss population. The extra wave focuses on well-being and health, changes in the work and financial situation, time use, family and social life. The survey is currently in the field and had a very successful start in terms of response rate.

Copyright image : Jrcasas-Dreamstime.com

The 24th Summer School in Social Science Methods will take place in Lugano on 14-28 August, 2020.

The Summer School in Social Science Methods has been conceived for those who feel the need to refresh, deepen and widen their methodological knowledge and skills, whatever their professional situation: student, researcher or practitioner.

Given the COVID-19 situation, the summer school will take place as foreseen in Lugano, with the option of attending the courses at distance for those who cannot travel. Should the situation require it, the summer school will also be able switch to remote mode.

The following workshops are confirmed:

Preliminary workshop (14. – 15.08.2020)
E. Horber – SPSS and Statistics Refresher
S. Kernbach – Visual Thinking for (PhD) researchers

Week 1 (17 – 21.08.2020)
E. Horber – Quantitative methods for Social Research
M. Bergman – Qualitative Interviewing

Registration and all other workshops!

For your next research project, consider pre-registration as a push to be clear and precise about your research plan.

The new practical FORS GUIDE to data management written by FORS collaborator Marieke Heers entitled Pre-registration and registered reports

shows that pre-registration is increasingly advocated to improve the credibility and rigor of empirical research.

Pre-registration and registered reports (FORS Guide N°09), Marieke Heers

All FORS Guides to survey methods or data management are available for free on our website. They are written by experts inside and outside of FORS and offer practical knowledge for researchers and students of social sciences.

The Annual Report 2019 showcases our research in social sciences, our data services, collaboration programs and publications. The report further summarizes all of the activities associated with our surveys.

The report includes a foreword from the FORS Director Prof. Georg Lutz on the Swiss Research Data Infrastructure.

FORS Annual Report 2019

We are happy to announce the release of the new SHP data. Wave 20 and the data of the pilot study for the forthcoming refreshment sample of the SHP are now available on FORSbase!

In collaboration with the NCCR LIVES we also release the new wave of the LIVES FORS Cohort Survey as well as the data of the additional SHP Vaud sample, a conjoint project of the Department of Health and Social Action of the canton of Vaud, the NCCR LIVES and the SHP.

Follow the links below to access the data:

Swiss Household Panel https://forsbase.unil.ch/project/study-public-overview/16898/0/

Swiss Household Panel additional Vaud sample https://forsbase.unil.ch/project/study-public-overview/16880/0/

LIVES FORS Cohort Survey https://forsbase.unil.ch/project/study-public-overview/16900/0/

Swiss Household Panel – Pilot SHP_IV https://forsbase.unil.ch/project/study-public-overview/16879/0/

In view of the Coronavirus pandemic and the exceptional measures taken by the cantonal governments and the Federal Council, we inform you about the following:

FORS remains operational and we are responding to your requests.
FORS has implemented home office in order to comply with all the measures in force.
Our data service continues without interruption. We continue to accept the deposit of your data files via FORSbase.

In a recently published article based on data from the Swiss Household Panel, Caroline Fischer and Carina Schott try to understand why people enter and stay in public service careers. It is crucial to know why individuals engage in public sector jobs, as labour shortage in the public sector is expected in Switzerland and in many other European countries.

Their results show that parental socialization is a strong predictor of public sector choice and that people with parents working in the public sector tend to stay longer in these jobs. In contrast to the authors’ hypotheses, political interest is neither a good independent predictor nor serves as a mediator to understand such a career choice. Consequently, the authors advice is not to focus on applicants’ interest in politics in the recruitment process but to stimulate public service motivation after job entry.

Image: Copyright CDC on Unsplash

In October 2019, the General Assembly of the European Social Survey (ESS) has appointed Professor Caroline Roberts from the University of Lausanne and FORS to serve on the ESS Methods Advisory Board.

We are delighted to announce that Caroline Roberts has now been elected as Chair of the ESS ERIC Methods Advisory Board.

The Methods Advisory Board of the ESS is involved in the design of the core questionnaire consultation with ESS data users and was integral in the implementation of a fieldwork management system during survey data collection.

Effects of topic distribution and topic importance on interest and follow-up response

Authors: Oliver Lipps and Alexandre Pollien (FORS)

Nº 2019-2

Effects of topic distribution and topic importance on interest and follow-up response

The FORS Working Paper series presents findings related to survey research, focusing on methodological aspects of survey research or substantive research. Manuscripts submitted are papers that represent work-in-progress. This series is intended to provide an early and relatively fast means of publication prior to further development of the work.  A revised version might be requested from the author directly. Further information on the FORS Working Paper Series can be found on www.forscenter.ch.

The 15 th Conference “Social Monitoring and Reporting in Europe” at Villa Vigoni, Loveno di Menaggio, Italy will take place in October 12-14, 2020 and focuses on the following topic:

Convergence or Divergence ? Changes in attitudes, socioeconomic structures and well-being across Europe

We invite resarchers to submit their papers that address one or more of the following issues:

• Living apart together? – measuring the extent of similarity and dissimilarity of European countries
• Convergence and divergence in quality of society, civic values, and political preferences
• Convergence and divergence in well-being, living standards, social structures and inequalities
• Convergence and divergence in institutional arrangements
• Trends of regional inequalities in Europe
• Consequences of divergence, e.g. in trust and views of the citizens; is the European project at risk?
• Observations of “undesired convergence”, e.g. diminished diversity in cultural domains

Consult the call for detailed information.

Please submit your abstract (no more than 300 words) to Dr. Heinz-Herbert Noll. 

The deadline for submissions is May 15, 2020.

The first edition of European Social Survey (ESS) Round 9 data was published on October 31, 2019.

Data included in this initial release was collected during late 2018 and early 2019 in 19 countries, including Switzerland:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Survey data collected in this round includes two rotating modules: on the timing of life events (repeated from Round 3, 2006) and a new module on justice and fairness, in the context of respondents’ income. The questionnaire also includes regular ESS questions on: media and social trust, politics, subjective well-being, social exclusion, religion, national and ethnic identity, the human values scale and a wide range of socio-demographic measures.

READ MORE >>

FORS is proud to present SWISSUbase and linkhub.ch at the Swiss Open Science Action Plan Kick-Off Forum. The event is organised by swissuniversities and takes place on October 17, 2019 at the Forum Rolex (EPFL). We are invited to present a poster outlining our vision for Open data in Switzerland and our projects in this area. SWISSUbase will offer a solution for the long-term preservation and accessibility of research data to the universities in Switzerland and has therefore the potential to boost the implementation of Open data.

For registration and programme visit the website of the event.

Image:  ID 149505197 © Profitimage / Dreamtime

Based on the Swiss Household Panel, Jehane Simona-Moussa and Laura Ravazzini explored how the dot-com crisis and the Great Recession affected vulnerable people in Switzerland. As such, the authors looked at migrants, unemployed people, low-educated individuals, single parents, large families, young people and solo self-employed. Studying both objective and subjective indicators, results suggest that the dot-com crisis had a stronger negative effect on vulnerable groups than the Great Recession. This was particularly the case for single parents and large families. Whereas they were amongst the most affected by the dot-com crisis, their condition improved during the Great Recession. Find all the results here:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11205-018-1957-5

Image: Dreamtime

Call for rotating modules

The call for teams of academics to apply to field questions in Round 11 (2022/23) of the ESS has been published. Each rotating module covers a single academic and/or policy concern within Europe and is primarily drafted by an external cross-national team whose proposal is chosen by the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) following an open competition. Deadline for Step 1 is 17 January 2020. The selection process will be completed by July 2020, with work on the chosen Round 11 rotating modules due to begin in September 2020.

http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/methodology/ess_methodology/source_questionnaire/call_for_proposals.html

Le 20 octobre, les citoyens suisses éliront leur nouveau Parlement. Qui vote, avec quelle régularité, pour quel parti, sous l’influence de quels paramètres ? L’analyse de Georg Lutz.

Réponses dans le dernier Allez savoir ! le magazine de l’Université de Lausanne.

Lire l’article

Les chiffres cités dans l’article sont tirés de SELECTS 2016. 

Nous sommes heureux de vous annoncer la parution du livre «Entre mobilité temporaire et ancrage local : portrait de la jeunesse suisse; Analyse des séjours dans d’autres régions linguistiques de Suisse et à l’étranger».

Ce livre est issu de l’édition 2016/2017 des Enquêtes fédérales auprès de la jeunesse («enquêtes ch-x»), une enquête menée par FORS. Ce livre est le fruit d’une collaboration entre FORS et l’Institut de géographie et durabilité de l’Université de Lausanne.

Éditeurs: Alexandra Stam (FORS) et Patrick Rérat (UNIL)

Auteurs: Eliane Ferrez (FORS), Marieke Heers (FORS), Brian Kleiner (FORS), Alexandra Stam (FORS), Anthe van den Hende (anciennement FORS) et Lucas Haldimann (UNIL)

Plus de 40000 jeunes hommes suisses ont été interrogés dans le cadre de la procédure de recrutement de l’armée, ainsi qu’un échantillon complémentaire de 2000 femmes. L’étude s’intéresse aux séjours à but éducatif, professionnel ou culturel, à destination d’une autre région linguistique de Suisse ou de l’étranger. Elle distingue des séjours courts (1 à 3 semaines) et longs (plus de 3 semaines), réalisés ou envisagés. L’enquête aborde aussi d’autres mobilités (migration, mobilité résidentielle, etc.) en les replaçant dans le parcours de vie des jeunes.

Quelques résultats de l’étude

On ne sait que très peu sur la mobilité temporaire des jeunes et en particulier les séjours de type linguistiques, culturels et professionnels, une lacune que cette étude a comblé.

Ainsi on observe qu’une proportion non négligeable des jeunes suisses, notamment 40%, ont effectué un séjour et environ 30% prévoient une telle expérience dans les 3 prochaines années, avec une préférence pour les séjours de type linguistique.

Les observations principales sont de plusieurs ordres.

• On apprend que ce type de séjour est valorisé par les jeunes, tant au niveau des expériences et projets de mobilité, mais également de leurs perceptions de la mobilité. La grande majorité jugent que c’est important d’offrir de telles possibilités pendant la formation.
• On note un fort attrait pour les séjours à l’étranger au détriment des autres régions linguistiques, tant au niveau des séjours effectués et envisagés.
• La mobilité est un phénomène sélectif : les jeunes n’ont pas tous les mêmes chances d’effectuer une telle expérience. On constate par exemple que le milieu socio-économique ou le niveau d’éducation sont des facteurs discriminants pour les séjours longs (effectués et dans une plus petite mesure envisagés).

Cette étude offre ainsi une meilleure compréhension de la mobilité, des raisons qui poussent, ou alors retiennent les jeunes d’effectuer une telle expérience. Sur le plan politique, ces résultats pourront informer les acteurs concernés par les enjeux de l’accessibilité à la mobilité temporaire.

FORS adresse un remerciement particulier à Peter Farago, ancien directeur de FORS, sans qui ce projet n’aurait tout simplement pas vu le jour. Non seulement Peter Farago a encouragés l’équipe à se lancer dans cette belle aventure, mais il a également participé activement à la rédaction de la requête et à son succès. Nous adressons également nos remerciements au Boris Wernli, membre de la direction de FORS, qui a tenu le rôle de consultant tout au long du projet et nous a fait profiter de son expertise statistique.

Le livre est disponible en ligne à l’adresse suivante : https://www.chx.ch/fr/publications/volume25

Communiqué de presse: https://chx.mazzehosting.ch/sites/default/files/downloads/medientext_f_ch-x_band_25_23.2019.pdf

Sélection de coupures de presse:

RTS : Les jeunes Suisses boudent les autres régions linguistiques du pays 

Site web du conseil fédéral: Mobilité temporaire et ancrage local : portrait de la jeunesse suisse

Movetia: Enquêtes ch-x : les séjours linguistiques ont la cote, mais le potentiel des échanges nationaux est sous-exploité

Les actus de l’UNIL: https://news.unil.ch/display?id=1569251755843

20 years: Where did we come from and where will we go ?

Twenty years ago began a great adventure with the launch of the first Swiss Household Panel (SHP) sample. It was in 1999. At that time, in Switzerland, longitudinal surveys were particularly rare in the fields of social sciences. The launch of the SHP was a pioneer study realized under the initiatives of visionaries. Historically, the creation of the SHP was one of the key structural measures implemented within the framework of the Swiss Priority Programme (SPP) “Switzerland Towards the Future” to achieve two crucial goals: The first goal was to complement data collected by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office to ensure a solid database for social reporting on stability and changes in living arrangements and well-being in Switzerland. The second goal was to promote opportunities for quantitative social science research by providing social sciences and the international social science research community with high-quality longitudinal data based on the general population living in Switzerland.

For 20 years, the Swiss Household Panel (SHP) survey has been examining the living conditions of the resident population in Switzerland. This unique longitudinal survey provides researchers with high quality data across a wide range of fields such as demographics, education, employment, income, health, social indicators, quality of life and attitudes. This makes the SHP a valuable source of information for studies in different disciplines and allows for cross-domain analyses.

Should I stay or should I go? Does money buy happiness or does marriage make you happier? Check out the brochure that depicts various achievements of the SHP and provides a set of illustrations of the value of the SHP and its possible applications.

https://forscenter.ch/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/brochureannipsm_web.pdf

More information on: https://forscenter.ch/projects/swiss-household-panel/

SWISSUbase is a national data infrastructure solution for the long-term preservation and sharing of scientific research data across all scientific disciplines.

Starting from FORSbase, an existing and proven national archive solution for Swiss social science research data, this two-year project will implement SWISSUbase, a national cross-disciplinary solution for Swiss universities and other research organisations in urgent need of data repositories for their researchers.

Together with our main partner institutions (the University of Zurich and the University of Lausanne) we develop SWISSUbase for the curation, preservation, and dissemination of scientific research data in Switzerland and the distribution of information on ongoing and completed research projects in Switzerland.

The project is funded by swissuniversities P-5 programme and is supported by technology provided by SWITCH.

More information on  https://swissubase.ch/

See also: https://www.switch.ch/stories/FORS-builds-with-SWITCH/

In a study based on SHP data, Thomas Kurer from Harvard University explores the consequences of technological change on routine workers in Switzerland. Three major results come out of this study. First, the disadvantages of technological progress are concentrated on routine workers whose share in the labor force has drastically declined over time. Second, only a minority of the affected routine workers actually switches to other jobs while the largest chunk of the decline is explained by ‘natural transitions’ into retirement. Third, routine workers show a surprisingly high degree of consciousness about susceptibility to automation. While routine work has long offered an occupational route that promised secure employment and mid-range incomes to workers without college degrees, this trajectory is increasingly a thing of the past. For routine workers’ children, the only way to match or surpass their parents’ social position is a job in non-routine cognitive work, which usually requires higher education or very good vocational training. A generous and broadly accessible educational system is thus key to generate a sense of collective progress and insulate democratic countries against political disruption.

More information on: https://www.sozialpolitik.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/2019-1-2_Kurer.pdf

Image source: Stock Snap - Nuno Silva.

The beta version of the 20th wave of the SHP data is now available on request. If you would like to get access to this dataset, please contact us via e-mail (swisspanel@fors.unil.ch)