The ESS measures values, attitudes and behavioural patterns of the populations of European countries. In order to obtain high-quality internationally comparable data, the methodological specifications of the survey are very precise and rigorous. In 2005, the project’s scientific quality earned it the prestigious Descartes Prize.
The questionnaire is divided into two parts. The first part, the “core module”, consists of socio-political, socio-economic and socio-psychological questions. The core module also gathers information regarding the respondents’ socio-demographic profile. These questions remain the same in each round. The second part includes two or more periodically repeated modules that focus on specific topics. The purpose of these rotating modules is to provide a broader insight into a series of issues that are of particular academic or political interest. A supplementary section is dedicated to the Schwartz human values scale and a selection of experimental tests.
The main objectives of the ESS:
- Generate a continuous series of valuable data for comparisons over time and across countries that monitor the evolution of values, attitudes and behavioral patterns in the European societies;
- Establish and transmit higher standards in the comparative international social sciences (e.g. questionnaire design and pre-testing, sampling strategies, translation procedures, data collection and processing);
- Increase the visibility and accessibility of statistical data on social change in Europe, not only for researchers and policymakers, but also for the media and the wider public.
The ESS-ERIC is governed by a General Assembly, which has three standing committees: the Scientific Advisory Board, the Methods Advisory Board and the Finance Committee. Switzerland is represented in the General Assembly by Georg Lutz and in the Scientific Advisory Board by Christian Staerklé. The design and operationalisation of the survey (methodological decisions, survey topics, development of the source questionnaire, archiving of the data) are carried out by the Core Scientific Team at the City University of London. This work is supported by partners at a number of research centres:
- Norwegian Centre for Research Data (NSD), Norway
- Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences (GESIS), Germany
- The Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP), Netherlands
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain
- University of Leuven, Belgium
- University of Essex, Great Britain
- University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Each participating European country carries out the survey in accordance with the methodological rules established by the central ESS-ERIC team. In the case of Switzerland, FORS is responsible for the execution of the survey. Under the lead of Michèle Ernst Staehli, the Swiss ESS-team performs the following tasks: translation of the English source questionnaire into three national languages (French, German and Italian), sample drawing for Switzerland, development of specific survey methods, cleaning, processing and documentation of the Swiss ESS data. The fieldwork is carried out by a specialized agency.
Funding
The international project planning and organisation, the questionnaire development, and the data archiving are funded by the members of the ESS-ERIC. The planning and operationalisation of the survey in Switzerland is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).
The ESS is characterised by scientific rigour and methodological sophistication. The two following aspects are of particular importance:
The source questionnaire must be developed with particular care in order to enable cross-country comparisons. The questions are pre-tested in several countries. Emphasis is also placed on the quality of the question translations. The specialists of the ESS Core Scientific Team provide the national teams with guidance regarding their translation procedure. The specific process for translation and assessment is called TRAPD (translation, review, adjudication, pretesting, and documentation).
The quality of a survey depends to a high degree on the sample drawing procedures. The Core Scientific Team is supported by a group of specialists who advise and validate the national samples. In order to ensure the sample of the population is as representative as possible, the protocol prohibits quota samples and encourages the participating countries to achieve high response rates. To this effect, the methodological procedures are constantly improved (e.g., intensive interviewer training). Since the third round, Switzerland has achieved a response rate of more than 50 percent, which is an exceptionally high rate for this type of survey.
Data collection and sampling in Switzerland
The respondents are drawn from a probabilistic sample representing the countries’ population aged 15 and above. A net sample size of at least 1,500 respondents is required. Since 2010, the ESS is considered a survey of national importance to Switzerland, which means that a sample of individuals can be drawn randomly from the sampling register of the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, in accordance with Art. 13c, para. 2, lett. d, of the Ordinance on the Execution of Federal Statistical Surveys dated 30 June 1993.
Sample design:
- Selection of a specific number of households in every region of Switzerland (national registry of phone numbers and addresses)
- Random drawing of one person from each household/address
- Sample of postal codes representing all regions of Switzerland
- Selection of a specified number of households from each of the sampled postal codes
- Random drawing of one person from each household
Data collection mode: Face-to-face interviews, CAPI
The interview is held face-to-face and takes approximately one hour. Each interviewer conducts only a limited number of interviews in order to improve the quality of the collected data.
The questionnaire is divided into a main part with core questions that remain unchanged in every round and a second part that focuses on specific topics that are periodically repeated.
The goal of the core modules is to study the evolution of a large spectrum of social indicators. These include the use of media, the degree of trust in the social environment, political participation and the perception of institutions, subjective wellbeing, feelings about discrimination, attitudes toward exclusion, as well as national, ethnic, and religious identity. The core modules also collect information on the respondents’ socio-demographic profile. The repetitive nature of these questions allow to analyse changes over time.
The rotating modules focus on specific topics that vary in each round of the ESS. For each round, research groups propose topics they consider of particular interest. These can be completely new modules (e.g. Gender in Contemporary Europe), or modules that already were surveyed in previous years (e.g. Health Inequalities, which was carried out in 2014). The aim of the rotating modules is to deepen or expand certain topics or fields of research.
A supplementary section is dedicated to the Schwartz’ human values scale and a series of experimental tests.
| 2023 | Core modules A) Media and social trust B) Politics C) Subjective well-being, social exclusion, religion, national identity F) Socio demographics | Rotating modules D) Health inequalities E) Gender in contemporary Europe | Additional modules G) Human values Test questions |
| 2020/21 | Core modules A) Media and social trust B) Politics C) Subjective well-being, social exclusion, religion, national identity F) Socio demographics | Rotating modules D) Understandings and evaluation of democracy G) Digital social contacts in work and family life | Additional modules G) Human values Test questions K) Attitudes toward Covid-19 pandemic |
| 2018 | Core modules A) Media and social trust B) Politics C) Subjective well-being, social exclusion, religion, national identity F) Socio demographics | Rotating modules D) Timing of Life G) Fairness and Justice | Additional modules G) Human values Test questions |
| 2016 | Core modules A) Media and social trust B) Politics C) Subjective well-being, social exclusion, religion, national identity F) Socio demographics | Rotating modules D) Welfare attitudes E) Public attitudes to climate change | Additional modules G) Human values Test questions |
| 2014 | Core modules A) Media and social trust B) Politics C) Subjective well-being, social exclusion, religion, national identity F) Socio demographics | Rotating modules D) Health inequalities E) Attitudes toward immigration | Additional modules H) Human values Test questions |
| 2012 | Core modules A) Media and social trust B) Politics C) Subjective well-being, social exclusion, religion, national identity F) Socio demographics | Rotating modules D) Personal and social well-being E) Understandings and evaluation of democracy | Additional modules G) Human values Test questions |
| 2010 | Core modules A) Media and social trust B) Politics C) Subjective well-being, social exclusion, religion, national identity F) Socio demographics | Rotating modules D) Trust in criminal justice E) Family, work and well-being | Additional modules G) Human values Test questions |
| 2008 | Core modules A) Media and social trust B) Politics C) Subjective well-being, social exclusion, religion, national identity F) Socio demographics | Rotating modules D) Welfare attitudes F) Experiences and expressions of ageism | Additional modules G) Human values Test questions |
| 2006 | Core modules A) Media and social trust B) Politics C) Subjective well-being, social exclusion, religion, national identity F) Socio demographics | Rotating modules D) The timing of life: the organization of the life course E) Personal and social well-being | Additional modules G) Human values Test questions |
| 2004 | Core modules A) Media and social trust B) Politics C) Subjective well-being, social exclusion, religion, national identity F) Socio demographics | Rotating modules D) Opinions on health and care seeking E) Economic morality: Market society and citizenship G) Family, work and well-being | Additional modules H) Human values Test questions |
| 2002 | Core modules A) Media and social trust B) Politics C) Subjective well-being, social exclusion, religion, national identity F) Socio demographics | Rotating modules D) Immigration E) Citizenship, involvement and democracy | Additional modules G) Human values Test questions |
ESS_2018_Questionnaire_English_French_German_Italian
ESS_2016_Questionnaire_English_French_German_Italian
ESS_2014_Questionnaire_English_French_German_Italian
ESS_2012_Questionnaire_English_French_German_Italian
ESS_2010_Questionnaire_English_French_German_Italian
The Swiss ESS data is also available on the FORS – De Visu Server. This server also provides exclusive access to additional, country-specific questions surveyed in Switzerland, and to the German and French language versions of the dataset. Further information on the survey, the data and variables is also available here. FORS – De Visu provides only a limited selection of the Swiss ESS data. The overall dataset is available on the SWISSUbase data catalogue.
For cross-country comparisons, the data has to be weighted by population size of the respective countries in order to ensure correct representation of each country. The ESS calculates these weights for all participating countries (see ESS population weight). Depending on the national sampling design, the data of certain countries has to be weighted to account for sampling design bias (see ESS design weight). For Switzerland, only the ESS data from 2002 to 2008 requires such design weights. Starting in 2010, the respondents are drawn from a one-stage national random sample of individuals; hence the data from 2010 requires no weights.
Researchers are requested to respect the data use conditions, in particular the proper citation (see correct citation for Swiss data sets) in articles or other forms of publication. All publications that refer to ESS data must be reported to the ESS bibliography.
Users who want to expand their knowledge on statistics in the social sciences can attend a free online-course: EDUNET provides both theoretical and practical tutorials including correction/proofing using ESS data.
Interesting links:
- SWISSUbase and FORS – De Visu (the national social science data archive that stores the ESS-data for Switzerland)
- The international archive (that stores all ESS data)
- The international site of the European Social Survey
- ESS for participants (the site for participants in Switzerland)
Further documents:
The ESS maintains a list of studies that have been produced with data from the ESS.
ESS 2014: Topline Results on Social Inequalities in Health and Attitudes towards Immigration
Social Inequalities in Health and their Determinants (also available in German and French)
ESS 2012: Topline Results on Personal and Social Wellbeing
ESS 2012:
Europeans’ Understandings and Evaluations of Democracy
Compréhensions et évaluations de la démocratie par les Européen
Demokratieverständnisse und -bewertungen in Europa
La democrazia vista dagli europei
ESS 2010:
Trust in Justice
ESS 2010 und 2004:
Economic Crisis, Quality of Work and Social Integration
ESS 2008:
Welfare Attitudes in Europe
